


Lost in Thought

by SecretScribbles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguements, Cuban Lance, Except for pidge, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I may or may not have bunged criminal minds to get in the mood for this story, I think she's like 16 at this point, I've been writing this for weeks and I still can't think of anything to say about it, Lance and Keith are consenting adults, Langst, M/M, Memory Loss, Mentions of Blood, Mind Games, Minor Character Death, Murder/Mystery, Mystery, Relationship Problems, Serial Killer, Space time flops are weird and hard to keep up with, Spanish speaking Lance, Strangling, Well - Freeform, Who Dunnit, but yeah, dream walking, especially when they don't sleep, everyone is of legal age, flash backs, flirting because of course Lance, half galra keith, main OC death, make ups, more tags when I actually wake up, overly cautious keith, serial killers aren't nice guys, they love each other they just don't know how to talk, they're all adults even if they don't act like it, yay brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-08-05 13:30:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16368527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretScribbles/pseuds/SecretScribbles
Summary: Earth is trying to heal after the rise and fall of the Galra attack, but a new threat hides in the dark now as a killer lurks in a city just trying to get by. With the bodies piling up, it's up to this new, rag-tag team to catch him before he strikes again- but is it too late for Lance?





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: First chapter covers a hospital scene and flashes of how Lance got there. No blood, but it does involve a passing description of CPR.
> 
> IDK, I can't brain right now, I swear it's the medication but I've also been wanting to post this story for the last few weeks so here we go. Like I said, I may have binged Criminal Minds in order to get this story out, so I've already written about 8 chapters of this so far in order to keep everything straight. That being said, this is probably the shortest chapter there is, so I'll try to update soon.

 

 

 

“ _ Wh--!” _

 

A voice was cut off and the sound of clattering could be heard before there was a sudden silence.

 

“ _ What was that?” _

 

“ _ Sound off _ .”

 

“ _ Keith and Kulai in section two _ , clear.  _ No movement here.” _

 

“ _ Rizavi and Veronica _ .  _ Same with us, all clear in section four _ .”

 

“ _ Section three, Leifsdottir and Griffin, clear _ . _ There's no sign of him.” _

 

_ “Hunk here, with Kinkade, we're okay. Unless there's another exit that we don't know about, nobody's been in or out of this place.” _

 

...

 

“ _ Lance, check in.” _

 

…

 

“ _ Lance, Deatrii, report your status _ .”

 

...

 

“ _ Why aren't they talking?” _

 

_ “Pidge, do we have eyes yet?” _

 

“ _ My systems are still down; I can't see anyone!” _

 

“ _ I repeat, Lance and Deatrii, check in.” _

 

“ _ Something's not right _ .”

 

“ _ Lance and Deatrii, report your status immediately, that's an order!” _

 

…

 

_ “He's got’em. Move!” _

 

\---

 

_ Post mission _

  
  


Keith frowned at the situation before him. Lance, lying in bed asleep, breathing in whatever extra oxygen the thin tubes would give him. The neckbrace he sported was definitely an unwanted accessory, and the medical gown did nothing for his now pallor complection. Given the bruising on Lance’s face and neck, however, there wasn't much that could be said in defense about the color clash between his skin and gown.

 

On a chair beside Lance's bed sat Veronica, also asleep and curled over the mattress as close to him as she could comfortably get with the pre-dawn light filtering in through the blinds. It was a far better sight than the last time Keith had seen them; Veronica, the hardened soldier kneeling over Lance as she shoved compressions into his chest and begged her baby brother to just  _ breathe _ . It was a relief when he finally did.

 

The memory of Lance coughing and sputtering and breathing in whatever he could would certainly be one that Keith treasured forever, simply because he had almost lost him just moments before. 

 

_ “Deatrii,” Lance gasped, gagging on the water escaping from his lungs. “D-trii- he-” _

 

_ “Don't worry about that now; just focus on breathing.” _

 

_ “He's…” _

 

_ “No, stay awake- Lance!” _

 

Keith couldn't tell him. Deatrii was dead. Right next to Lance in the water. Keith could still hear Kulai’s cries as she held her brother close for their final goodbyes. Lance had been the lucky one that day.

 

They were going after the Gardener. Lance had named him, obviously, because it was a horrible name for a serial killer. Probably the worst one Keith had ever heard. Especially for someone so gruesome.

 

Splitting up into teams of two sounded like a perfectly reasonable idea while they rushed after their prey in the tunnels. It made sense having someone to cover their back in the dark of the purification plant in case something were to happen. In hindsight, it was exactly what the Gardener wanted. Fewer enemies meant it was easier to find a target.

 

Deatrii had been quick. As the larger opponent, it only made sense to take him out first and slash the alien clean through his neck. It was hardly the Gardener’s technique of choice, but Deatrii was simply in the way and needed to go down.

 

A paladin of Voltron made for a much more enticing quarry, and certainly more of a challenge if the rumors were true. The Gardener would go down in history as the paladin slayer, the one who strangled the life out of a defender of the universe and won victory over him. At least, that's what would have happened if Lance hadn't been too stubborn to die.

 

The search team had gotten to Lance just in time to save him, to pull him from the water and resuscitate him, but it was still too late to stop the Gardener from getting away. Now there was a killer on the loose again, only this time, he had a hankering for Lance. The Gardener’s only survivor. The only witness. Lance was the one person to have ever met with the Gardener face to face and get away to tell the tale, and now he could identify the killer. If only Lance would wake up.

 

The black eye, busted lip and broken leg would all heal and fade away. It was the concussion that they had to worry about.

 

Keith leaned against the wall with a sigh, his arms crossed tight across his chest. Yes, Keith was certainly upset with the situation presented before him.

 

Instead of dwelling on all of the things that had has gone wrong, Keith focused on the heart monitor beeping steadily in the room. This was Lance. Lance was alive. The proof was right there in Keith’s ears; he just had to focus on that.

 

Lance would wake up eventually, it was just that nobody knew when that would be. Most of the week had passed already and it didn't have to be said out loud that it was too quiet without Lance hanging around. Now that there was a very good possibility that Lance would be gone, silence seemed to creep up on everybody. Keith included.

 

So, Keith listened to Lance's monitor. The slow, rhythmic beeping brought Keith little comfort, but he was greedy enough to take it, knowing that he needed it.

 

_ Beep…  _

 

_ Beep…   _

 

Keith closed his eyes and matched his breaths to the machine.

 

_ Beep…  _

 

_ Beep…  _

 

Peace entered his body as Keith repeated the same words over and over in his head.

 

_ Beep… _

 

Lance is alive.

 

_ Beep…  _

 

Lance is  _ alive. _

 

_ Beep, beep… _

 

Keith opened his eyes.

 

_ Beep, beep…  _

 

Dread replaced the peace Keith had worked to find, and soon enough, he panicked. Keith bolted from the wall and out into the hallway.

 

“Nurse? Nurse!” Keith caught eyes with a woman from the station at the end of the hall and began backing into Lance's room. “Help! His heartbeat-”

 

He couldn't finish. Struck dumb, Keith stood in the doorway to Lance's room, gaping wide-eyed at Lance.

 

“Hey, Keith,” Lance said. “What's up?”

 

His voice was harsh and gravely, obviously abused by the hands of the Gardener, but it was unmistakably Lance's voice.

 

The nurse rushed past Keith and immediately began fussing over her patient. Veronica slowly stirred awake from the sudden activity, but instantly sat up straight at the sight of her brother alive and well.

 

“Lance!” she cried. “You're awake!”

 

Lance gave a sleepy smile to his sister. “Not for long, though. I'm down for a nap.”

 

“NO!”

 

Both Lance and the nurse startled when Keith and Veronica shouted together, the panic clear in their expressions. The nurse took this moment as an excuse to escape and find the doctor, leaving Lance alone to be scolded by his loved ones.

 

“Lance, you just got out of a coma, you can't sleep yet!” Keith explained.

 

“Yeah, keep your lazy ass out of bed for once,” Veronica agreed. “No amount of beauty sleep can save you now.”

 

“Hey!” Lance sat up straight at his sister's taunting but winced at the pain of finding his broken leg. “What the…?”

 

For a moment, Lance looked entirely lost as he assessed the situation he suddenly found himself in. The cast along the length of his leg, the brace strapped around his neck, the IV in his arm- all of it was new to him, and completely unexpected. Slowly, he turned his attention to the pair across from him for answers.

 

“What's going on?”

 

Veronica sighed at her brother, still a little shaken from the memory. “We got to you just in time. Any later and he would have had you.”

 

Her words quivered towards the end as anger at the one responsible for her brother's injuries surged through her. It clouded her mind, but she forced herself to take a deep breath and spit it out, causing Lance to take action.

 

“Hey, it's alright.” Without even thinking, Lance took his sister's hand in his own at the sight of her so distressed. “There's no reason to freak out. I'm okay, really. Just tell me what happened.”

 

“She just did,” Keith said, then frowned as he studied Lance. “Do you… not remember?”

 

Lance looked to Keith with the most open and honest expression Keith had ever seen.

 

“Remember what?”

 

 


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the journey to find the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make it as easy to understand as possible with the time stamps. It switches back and forth between before and after Lance got hurt. Let me know if it's too confusing.

  
  


**Chapter 2**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


“How do we know it's a serial killer?”

 

The room turned from the screen to Hunk, still reading the reports that were available to everyone now staring at him.

 

“Don't get me wrong,” Hunk went on, holding up the papers. “This is terrible, but I don't see the connection yet. Men, women, young, old, all different colors- the only thing that they have in common is that they're all human. That's not enough to confirm anything.”

 

Iverson nodded and turned back to the screen to show a grid of four people, all pale and lifeless. “Each of the victims have the same bruising patterns around the neck and torso, and they all have broken femurs with more of that same bruising around the leg.” Iverson shook his head, face a mixture between discouraged and disgusted. “Whoever this guy is, he's strong. Nothing short of a car accident will break a human thigh bone, let alone someone's brute strength.”

 

“So the killer is an alien,” Pidge concluded.

 

“Or a mega-hulking guy on steroids.”

 

Again, everyone turned their attention to Lance, who merely waved his hands in surrender.

 

“It's possible,” Lance argued. “You cannot say anything is impossible after all we've been through.”

 

“And now consider  _ normal _ , unfortunately.” Hunk looked especially pale the longer he stared at the pictures, but Lance slapped his shoulder hard enough to jolt him from the screen.

 

“Thank you, Hunk,” Lance said enthusiastically. 

 

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Keith interrupted the pair with a pointed look before turning back to Iverson. “Back to the matter at hand; why us? I mean, I get that we're paladins and all, but, shouldn't the local law enforcement handle this?”

 

“We have.”

 

All four paladins twisted in their seats to find a pair of identical aliens entering the room.

 

“And we have been found wanting.”

 

Keith studied the two new aliens. They were tall, easily over seven feet with smooth, mixed blue skin and a softly formed, triangular shaped face that had no visible eyes or mouth. Their bodies were humanoid but the one who had spoken had two tentacle-like arms as thick as Hunk’s thighs, while the one behind it had two pairs of arms, one set over the other. 

 

“Paladins of Voltron, the Straluu twins,” Iverson sighed. “Kulai and her brother Deatrii are pretty much the only form of security in that district of the city until we can find more man-power. They've asked for our help on this case.”

 

“It is desperately needed.” Kulai looked to the four paladins, seeming slightly confused. “Are there not more of you?”

 

“There are.” Pidge quirked her mouth and fiddled with her glasses as she spoke. “But the others are a bit preoccupied with other projects that they couldn't step away from.” She turned a guilty shrug to Hunk, who nodded agreement. “To be honest, Hunk and I need to get back to those projects as well. The Atlas took on heavy damage in that last battle.”

 

Deatrii was leaning up against the wall with both sets of arms crossed. “Do all humans care so little about others of their kind?”

 

“That's not it,” Keith griped, irritated at this stranger's assumptions. “We don't even know why we're needed for this case when we could easily be working one of the dozens of other projects that we're already committed to in order to restore our home. Give me one good reason why we should give all of them up to help  _ just you _ when you could easily find help somewhere else, and then maybe we'll consider it.”

 

“The dead bodies, for one.”

 

Keith sent a scathing glare at Lance, but the Cuban man kept his expression neutral. 

 

“We can't really ignore it if people are dying,” Lance reasoned. “I know it's important to get the Atlas and the other cities back up and running again, but if there's a killer on the loose, that will only send us backwards instead of forward.” He shrugged. “We've worked too hard to have some good put back in this world; we can't lose that so quickly.”

 

For several moments, Keith could only stare at Lance because he was right. Keith knew that word of a killer on the streets would only scare the recovering people of the planet and dishearten them; possibly even into thinking that the killer might become their next tyrannical ruler. 

 

Still, the team had just barely left the hospital after their battle for Earth when they had been called into this meeting. Keith’s headaches were happening less and less, but they still happened and left him craving a dark hole to hide in, while Lance had a slight limp to his step, though he hid it well enough from the prying eye. Pidge’s tiny body was so sore and stiff that she had trouble lifting her arms at times, and Hunk still had fresh bandages to cover the stitches in his shoulder.

 

Not to mention, Hunk had finally gotten his family back and was now nursing their wounds alongside his own. It was never explicitly said that the task was his top priority, but Keith knew just how important it was to Hunk nonetheless. None of them were physically or mentally ready for such a cruel job as this… but Lance was right. People were dying.

 

“Please.” Kulai brought Keith back to the conversation. “He has already killed four and plans for another. He always kills at the end of the week- we don't know why. That means that there are only a few days left before he strikes again, and Deatrii and I cannot find him alone. We need the best this world has to offer.”

 

Keith stared at where he assumed Kulai’s eyes would be before he gave up and closed his own. It sucked being the leader.

 

“Alright, here's what we can do.” 

 

Keith opened his eyes to look at his team, seeing the fear in Hunk’s eyes and the exhaustion radiating off of Pidge. At the moment, it seemed that neither of them could handle someone so vicious, but they were too tired and ashamed to turn away from it. They needed an out, someone to give them permission to rest for once, but running away and hiding completely would have left them even more guilt ridden. 

 

“You two help out where you can but continue working with Shiro and the others. Right now your skills are needed there. Lance and I can do the base work while you finish up what you've started and when you're done, you can come find us,” Keith said. Instantly the tension in Hunk’s shoulders left him with a nod to Keith as a silent gesture of thanks. Pidge fiddled with her glasses again, keeping her gaze down but nodded as well.

 

Next, Keith held eyes with Lance, who seemed determined to take the case. Against all of his vibrato, Lance was always quiet and serious when he felt something to be important, and he obviously felt that way now if his scowl said anything. Unlike Hunk and Pidge, Lance wanted this. He wanted to help put a stop to the terror of the town and protect its people; a paladin to the end. Keith had to hold back a smile at the thought. 

 

“You and I take lead on this and help these two catch their killer. Hunk and Pidge will take over our jobs while we're working on this so that the other projects don't get backed up. Meanwhile, this is top priority and needs to be closed as soon as possible. If we need more feet on the ground, we’ll call them back in.” Keith motioned to Hunk and Pidge, earning a curt nod from Lance before Keith finally turned to Iverson and the twins. “Are we agreed?”

 

It was sporadic, but eventually, one by one, each member of the room nodded their agreements. 

 

“Then let's get started.”

 

\---

 

_ Post mission _

 

The doctor clicked off his flashlight and sighed happily as he pocketed his tool while Lance blinked the spots away. He smiled to both Lance and his mother, his voice warm and raspy.

 

“Whelp,” the doctor said. “Seems like you're going to be okay there, son. Though, we'll keep you here a couple more nights for safety.”

 

“Sure thing, doc,” Lance said as he rubbed at his eyes, then pointed to his neck brace. “Does that mean I can take this thing off now?”

 

The elder man gave an amused chuckle. “I'm afraid not, son. Best to keep it on just a little while longer.” 

 

“Aw, doc, you're killing me!” Lance complained.

 

“Quit your bellyaching; you always were such a diva.” Veronica grinned from the doorway but stayed put, looking to the doctor for permission first. “Can we come in now?”

 

With a warm smile and a sweet chuckle, the doctor waved the group into the room and bid his farewells, asking Lance to call on him if anything was needed. Meanwhile, Mrs. Espinosa was patting her son's shoulder and whispering in Lance's ear about grabbing some breakfast. 

 

“Mom, seriously? It's almost noon- go eat!” Lance pulled back as violently as his aching body would allow in order to stare her down. “You've got to take better care of yourself!”

 

“Practice what you preach, my sun,” Mrs. Espinosa giggled as she placed a loud kiss over the top of Lance's forehead and pointed at her children. “I'll be back. Be nice to each other, you're supposed to be loving.”

 

“We're siblings, mom, we're supposed to be heathens and grey out your hair,” Veronica said.

 

“For once, I agree with my sister.” Lance nodded solemnly. 

 

“Call the presses,” Veronica mumbled.

 

Mrs. Espinosa giggled again and left the room, simply happy to be hearing such easy banter from her family again. As soon as his mother was out of sight, Lance perked up.

 

“Hey, guys!” Lance lit up at the sight of guests and tried to sit up a little straighter. 

 

Keith took up his usual spot in the corner of the room while Veronica and Kulai covered the end of the bed. It was easy to see how much having company meant to Lance. The others had already come by to visit him after word of his awakening had spread, but work was work, and the recovery plan needed its paladins back on the case within the hour. It was understandable, but at the same time… Keith tightened his grip across his chest to keep from thinking about it too hard.

 

Kulai stood tall at the end of Lance's bed, and without a face, it was hard to read any expression she may have held, but the gentleness in her voice was comforting.

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “You gave us quite a scare.”

 

Lance scoffed and obnoxiously waved a hand out. “Nah, I'm good! I was just taking a little nap, that's all.”

 

Kulai ticked her head, and Keith recognized this position as confusion. “I thought it was a coma?”

 

Lance shrugged. “Same diff.” 

 

“Big diff,” Keith snipped. “You could have died.”

 

“Buuut,” Lance held a finger up. “I didn't. So I'd say that's a win, and that means I'm right. It was just a nap.”

 

“Pretty serious nap,” Veronica grumbled. “Try saying that to mom and I'm pretty sure she'll send you back into another coma.”

 

At this, Lance’s mouth twisted into a ridiculous frown and a small groan whimpered out of him. Then, he held up his hand in surrender.

 

“Fine. Truce- you got me.” 

 

Veronica and Lance smirked at one another at the joke, but Kulai seemed appalled.

 

“Your mother wouldn't really do that, would she?” Kulai asked.

 

“What- no!” Lance held back a snicker. “No, no, no; Vee was just kidding around.”

 

Kulai shifted on her feet, seeming uncomfortable. “I hardly find abuse amusing.”

 

“As you very well shouldn't,” Veronica agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Most Earth families usually aren't that violent towards each other, but joking about it comes easily enough because we know how absurd the reality of it actually happening really is. That's not an excuse, but it is why it's considered funny.”

 

“Yeah, like how you know Dee would never hurt you. If someone were to say that he would even try, you can't help but think it's stupid because you know the truth.” Lance dropped his comforting smile to a more playful one. “Speaking of, where is Deatrii? That jerk hasn't come to see me yet.”

 

The mood shifted then, and an uncomfortable silence permeated through the room. Veronica had that worried pinch to her brow again as she scowled to the floor, and Keith locked his lazer-like gaze onto a stiff Kulai, standing rigid at the end of the bed. Lance caught on to it quickly, but his smile only dimmed enough to try and return the playful atmosphere.

 

“Hey, I was just kidding again, I don't actually think he's a jerk,” Lance explained. “It's another one of those human things-”

 

“Lance.” 

 

Keith slid his attention away from Kulai to meet with his partner. He didn't want to do this. Lance’s memory of the past few weeks was sporadic at best, so he had absolutely no idea what was wrong, and now was the time to tell him. Keith gripped his arms tightly but kept his expression neutral and his voice steady.

 

“Deatrii isn't coming,” Keith said lowly. “He was with you when you were attacked in the tunnels.”

 

The well earned color that had returned to Lance's face over the past few hours now seeped out of him with one gulp. Hard, blue eyes stared back at Keith, never once looking away.

 

“Is he okay?” Lance asked, voice barely there.

 

Slowly, Keith shook his head.

 

“He's dead, Lance,” Keith said quietly.

 

Once again, silence filled the room. For several long seconds, no one said or did anything. As if the words had powers of their own, each person stood frozen in time. Lance sat, disbelieving, his wide, blue eyes still locked onto Keith as though waiting for the punchline to a bad joke.

  
  


“No…” Lance’s voice was small as he shook his head, but all at once, his volume burst high, just as his anger did. “No! That’s not right, that  _ can’t  _ be right; why would you say that? I just saw him, I-” 

 

He stopped short at the sight of Kulai, and suddenly, that anger turned to dread. Veronica sat right before the alien, lined up perfectly with Kulai for Lance’s brain to connect the dots. One sister had miraculously regained her brother, while the other lost hers in an unfair battle. The fact of the matter was that it could have easily been switched around had the Gardener not taken a shine to the paladin. Lance’s eyes misted over, and his voice cracked as he spoke. 

 

“No…”

 

“Yes.” Kulai squared her shoulders, not quite looking at anybody even with her lack of facial features. “My brother was slaughtered while chasing down the Gardener with you. Aside from his killer, you were the last of us to see him alive.”

 

“Kulai- I’m so sorry, I-” Lance swallowed back a sob, but the tears flowed freely down his cheeks. It took him a moment to regain his breath, but when he did, Lance looked directly to Kulai. “He’s going to pay for this. I won’t stop until Deatrii’s killer is caught. We  _ will  _ catch him.” 

 

Kulai said nothing, merely watched as the anger filled Lance all over again. Only this time, it wasn’t explosive. Rather, it simmered like a boiling pot, growing hotter and stronger the longer it sat. That anger swam through Lance’s tear-filled eyes alongside his determination, never leaving Kulai.

 

“I promise.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, information that was not in the story because I didn't want to write it out and add, like, twelve extra chapters:  
> 1\. Shiro, Allura, the Holt family and Coran are all way too busy to help with the case because reasons.  
> 2\. Krolia and Kolivan took Kosmo with them on a mission off Earth to use his nose to sniff something out. This had nothing to do with me not wanting to add in any unnecessary characters, nope, not at all. >.>  
> 3\. Hunk is hiding behind projects so he doesn't have to work so much on the case and stay close to his family. Among his projects, he and his dad work mechanics while he cooks with the women of his family for the open food court.  
> 4\. Lance's mom calls him her sun instead of her son because of a plot point in the future and I thought it was cute and the English language has loop holes like that and I thought it would be a cute HC when I heard her say "My son" on S7 and yeah... yeah.
> 
> Fun fact: The Straluu twins actually do have faces but they keep them hidden under a thin layer of skin. Their species considers it inappropriate to show in public due to its vulgarity, very much like how humans covered their body with clothes. Lance asked to see it one time and made Deatrii VERY uncomfortable before he explained why it was rude.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interviews all around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is 6am on Halloween morning and I have yet to sleep. Yay, insomnia. BUT, I do love this holiday so to celebrate, let's add another chapter to my murder story because that totally makes sense.

  
  
  


**Chapter 3**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


It had been Lance's idea to interview the friends and families of the victims, but it was Keith who had agreed to split up in order to do it. Now there was nothing Keith regretted more.

 

Each person Keith had interviewed was still grieving the loss of their loved one, and having a stranger come to pry into their lives offered no extra comfort. Keith struggled to show his empathies as any other person would, but he simply didn't know how to deal with this sort of distress, let alone with strangers. It didn't help matters in the slightest that he had partnered with Kulai for their objective, and she was just as bad with comforting as he was. They were, the both of them, truly sympathetic to what had happened- they just didn't know how to show it. After a particularly uncomfortable conversation with victim number three’s best friend, Keith could stand it no longer, so he sought after Lance for his own comforts. 

 

Lance and Deatrii were found some time later speaking with the mother of victim number four while she took down the laundry from a line just outside of her home. Keith watched as Lance smiled softly to the woman and helped her fold what was already dry and ready to be put away inside. It looked so easy for Lance, so natural to be a comfort to anyone he met, and help wherever he could in order to make a difference, no matter how small.

 

As Keith and Kulai stepped up to join them, a stab of jealousy targeted Keith at the sight of it. If only it were that easy for him to connect with people as it was for Lance. Perhaps then this day wouldn't be so long.

 

“I'm sorry, but that's all I know,” the mother said sadly, gripping some bed sheets close to her body. “I didn't see Gideon again after that.”

 

“I understand, ma’am,” Lance said gently. “What about Gideon himself? What can you tell me about him?”

 

The mother just shook her head.“He loves making friends and helping others. He'll play with anybody, even the ones that the other kids won't play with.”

 

“He sounds like my niece” Lance offered with a smile. “He must’ve been a good kid. Pretty popular.”

 

“He is,” the mom agreed, but soon enough, tears filled her eyes. “I still can't believe this happened. Gideon is just a normal boy, why-” She stopped suddenly, her eyes hollow as she realized her mistake. “Was… Gideon  _ was _ normal…”

 

Without a word, Lance dropped the pair of pants he had folded into the laundry basket and placed a comforting hand on the woman's back. She held a hand over her mouth to hold in her sobs, but Lance was undeterred.

 

“I know it's hard right now, and it's not fair what happened to you and Gideon,” Lance said, voice still soft and tender as he began rubbing circles across her back. “But we're doing everything we can to make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. We really appreciate you helping us do that.”

 

The mother sniffled and shook her head again, eyes downcast. “After everything… We were finally rebuilding our lives,” she murmured. “Now it's all taken away all over again.”

 

Up until then, Deatrii had been standing off to the side watching. At those words, however, he finally stepped up to address the mother. She regarded him wearily as he did so, but Deatrii spoke with the same tenderness that Lance had shown before.

 

“I haven't been on this planet for very long, and there are still many things that confuse me about you humans,” he told her. “But if there is one thing that I have learned here, it is that humans are resilient. Strong. Hopeful. And extremely stubborn.” 

 

Deatrii was rewarded with a tired, little chuckle and a grateful smile from the mother. He took another step closer, barely a shuffle, but it offered a sense of closeness that was different, yet still understood.

 

“You will survive this hurtle just as you have survived every other in your life, and you will live on to continue your journey. This is not the end to your story,” Deatrii said, then looked past her shoulder. “Nor your family’s.”

 

The mother turned to find what had caught Deatrii’s eye and saw her youngest son running towards her. He couldn't have been more than four years old, but his tiny little legs raced him towards his mother with all their might. She welcomed the boy with a smile as he approached, but his attention was drawn solely to the new strangers. He hid behind her skirt, big, brown eyes watching the team's every move.

 

Lance's smile was genuine as he watched the pair, and it was easy for Keith to see how the Cuban man might connect their bond to his own family. It was a skill that Keith was slowly learning himself.

 

“Spencer,” the mother said, fondly stroking his hair. “Finished your lunch already, have you?”

 

Spencer nodded, but his eyes were still locked on to the team- specifically the twins. Kulai ignored the staring, having grown used to it by then but Deatrii kneeled down to inspect the boy. Spencer watched Deatrii’s bulking frame like a hawk, a little intimidated due to the alien’s size and lack of a face.

 

“Hello, offspring,” Deatrii said. “Spencer, is it?”

 

Spencer’s eyes widened at being addressed and he quickly looked to his mother, who cooed to him with an amused grin.

 

“It's alright,” she reassured. “Say hello.”

 

The boy was timid as he focused back onto Deatrii but did as he was told nonetheless with a small wave. There was a slight tilt to Deatrii’s head, indicating confusion. 

 

“Have I offended you?” he asked, receiving a quick shake of Spencer's head. “What is it, then?”

 

Spencer pursed his lips and checked on his mother for permission once more before he turned his large, brown eyes back to the alien. “M’not s’posed to talk to strangers.”

 

This puzzled Deatrii profusely.

 

“I don't understand; wouldn't that deter socializing?” Deatrii asked, making Lance swallow a snort before he could make a fool of himself.

 

“It's a safety thing,” Lance explained. “Basically, strangers with candy and white vans are dangerous, shady folk.”

 

For a long moment, Deatrii stared at Lance with what could only be described as his version of bewilderment. Then:

 

“You humans are such strange creatures.”

 

Surprisingly enough, this made the mother laugh quite loudly. It was sudden and alarming, even to herself if the slapped hand to her mouth said anything about it. She cleared her throat to steady herself again and apologized for the sudden scare.

 

“Not at all,” Lance grinned. “Dee here is one of the few people on this planet that just might be funnier than me!”

 

Mirth filled the mother's eyes, and it was a relief to see such a hopeful future at the sight. Shortly after that, the mother asked to step away and finish her laundry, so the group bid their farewells and headed back to the Garrison together. As they walked away, Deatrii brought his concerns back into the spotlight.

  
  


“I still don't understand why you deny your children basic socialization,” Deatrii said. “Who are these fiends with candy and why hasn't your species removed them from civilization if they are a known threat?”

 

Lance was busy snickering at the question, so Keith took it upon himself to answer. 

 

“I see,” Kulai said. “Clever of humans to create a system that keeps their young in a close, protective circle.”

 

“Alright, I'll give you that one,” Deatrii conceded. “But what about the name you called me in front of the mother? Why did you give me a false name?”

 

“‘False name?’” Lance was obviously confused. “What are you talking about? I introduced you as Deatrii.”

 

“Yes, but when she was laughing, you called me ‘Dee,’” Deatrii explained. “What is a ‘Dee?’”

 

This time, Lance had to physically stop as he bit his lip and stared almost painfully to the sky. “I'm an adult,” he muttered under his breath, making Keith roll his eyes at Lance's immaturity. The twins turned to see why Lance had stopped walking, but the paladin had already started back up again.

 

“It's a nickname, Deatrii,” Lance said. “Humans give them to the people that they're close to.”

 

“Are they significant?” Deatrii asked.

 

“Sometimes.” Keith shrugged, deciding to pitch into the conversation with an experience of his own. “My dad used to call me Pal. It wasn't anything special, but I liked it. I guess it depends on who gives it to you.”

 

“Kulai!” Suddenly, Deatrii stopped and grabbed his sister by the shoulders with a great gasp. “I have a nickname!”

 

The length of Kulai’s paused compared to Deatrii’s tangible excitement was a feat in and of itself.

 

“Congratulations,” she said flatly, but Deatrii was overjoyed.

 

“I have a  _ human nickname _ !” Deatrii cried, elated. “It's Dee! I am Dee!”

 

With that, Deatrii giddily scurried off towards the Garrison with school boy like laughter, leaving his teammates far behind him in various states of silence.

 

“Sometimes I don't understand how we ended up with the same genetics,” Kulai confessed. Then, she marched on down the hill to follow after her brother.

 

Lance and Keith slowly followed after, taking their time in order to hold their own conversation. 

 

“You never told me about your dad,” Lance said. 

 

Keith shrugged. “Never came up until just now.”

 

Lance sucked in his lips as he pondered over voicing his next thoughts. “You can, you know. Talk about your dad, I mean. I wouldn't mind it, if you wouldn't.”

 

Surprise overcame Keith at the suggestion. It wasn't that he had secrets to keep, but moreover, just that no one had ever really wanted to listen to Keith before. In all actuality, Keith had hundreds of stories to share, but he never had had anyone interested enough to hear them. Until now.

 

“Yeah, okay,” Keith said quietly. “I think I'd like that.”

 

Just as quietly, Lance smiled at the genuine response. Then he stretched his arms high with a drawn out groan, only to drop his hands and lace his fingers behind his head.

 

“Boy, I'm beat,” Lance said. “I could use a little break.”

 

Keith glowered at this, not really angry but more perplexed. “It's barely after noon.”

 

“Yeah, which means we worked through lunch!” Lance threw a blinding grin at Keith. “Last one there buys!”

 

And with that, Lance was gone, bolting down the hill with an obnoxious cackle off his lips. Keith was right on his heels, quickly catching up. There was no way he was losing to Lance.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of skipping this go around but I did stick an Easter egg in there because I have been watching WAY too much Criminal Minds, lately. 
> 
> I'm stuck on a slow bit in chapter 12 right now so IDK what to do other than post another chapter to make myself more motivated. Potentially this will have 13 chapters if I do it right. Here's hoping- 13 chapters for a murder fic would be hilarious and ironic. Plus, the sooner I get this fic out of my system the sooner I can get back to my other projects like Name of a Witch, that poor, neglected baby T-T
> 
> Tell me what you think, I love talking with you guys.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories are powerful things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIIIIIVE.
> 
> Still trying to finish chapter 12, dang it.
> 
> Lance gets a little descriptive with the serial killer at one point but other than that, there shouldn't be any triggers to be wary of. If I'm wrong, please tell me.

  
  
  
  


**Chapter 4**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


“He’s picking flowers.”

 

Keith looked up from the papers in his hand to turn to Lance, bewildered. “What?”

 

“He’s picking flowers!” Lance repeated, more insistent this time. 

 

Keith couldn’t tell if it was the case or the lack of sleep that had caused Lance to finally lose his marbles. For the past two days, he, Lance and the Straluu twins had worked non-stop on finding out whatever they could about the victims in order to get a better idea of who or where the killer might strike next. They were short handed as it was, but whatever help they could get from Pidge  and Hunk had been halved as well when Hunk’s mother had caught a cold and needed taking care of. Their timeline was shortening with every passing second, so there wasn’t a moment to be spared on things such as a full night’s sleep or slowing down for pretty much anything. 

 

Even with his extensive training, Keith was wearing thin, and he could only imagine how wiped out Lance was at that moment. Especially if he was talking crazy botanical analogies.

 

Lance, however, ignored Keith’s incredulousness and stepped past their temporarily loaned Pidge and up to the table. “Makes sense, right? I mean, if you're going to pick a flower, you want to pick the prettiest one.” He slapped a hand down over the controls to the big screen to pull up the interviews that their rag-tag team of investigators had conjured up in the past two days. “He picks his victims so that he can enjoy them more.” 

 

At this, Pidge’s expression crumpled into disgust. “‘Enjoy them?’” she hissed, but Lance continued on without missing a beat.

 

“If he can snap a femur in two, then why not a neck?” Lance asked. “He deliberately holds back so that the neck doesn't break and kills his victim before he's done with them.” Lance’s expression soured a bit, his excitement waning as he thought more on his theories. “This guy lingers. If he just wanted them dead, he could easily have used a gun or a knife, but he strangles his victims so he can savor it. Something about his kills makes it enjoyable to him and he  _ wants _ to watch them die. Whatever it is, he's one sick puppy either way.”

 

“Couldn’t agree more, Lance,” Keith droned, losing interest once he realized that Lance’s ramblings were going nowhere. “That doesn’t mean he’s taking the time to pick flowers.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes with an impressively dramatic huff. “Metaphorically,  _ duh _ . In every interview I’ve been on, each of the victim’s friends and family members all said the same thing: that they were high-on-life type of people. This guy goes after energetic folk, bright, happy, excitable.” Lance turned to smirk at Keith, the dark circles under his eyes doing nothing to deter the playfulness behind them. “You wouldn’t pick sad, wilty flowers- just like this guy doesn’t go after wilty people. He likes the vibrancy. It's like he's picking the prettiest flowers for a bouquet. Kind of like a gardener.”

 

“I think you mean a ‘florist,’” Keith sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the table with little patience left to deal with the oncoming rebuttal that he could see Lance gearing up for.

 

“I know what I said,” Lance argued. “But my grandmother was a gardener when she picked her flowers,  _ not  _ a florist. So there.”

 

“Whatever, Lance, no one has time for any of your shit.” Keith hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but he did. He knew he had let his impatience and irritation get the better of him again even before he saw Lance flinch. No one else seemed to notice the expression he gave Keith, but Keith did, and he couldn't regret his temper more.

 

“Whatever,” Lance bit back. “I know that's what he's doing. My best bet is he likes to watch happy people lose that happiness and he can only do that by picking out his prey like a  _ gardener _ .”

 

Keith said nothing, too afraid to say something hurtful again without meaning to. Instead, Deatrii spoke for him.

 

“Gardener…” Deatrii stepped closer to Lance in a sort of dazed wonder, head tilted up towards the screen. “That's what we should call him.”

 

“Pfft, that's such a stupid name for a serial killer.” Lance paused for only a second before admitting: “I love it.”

 

“Should we be giving this guy a name?” Pidge asked. “I feel like that gives him power.”

 

“You can't get any power with a name like ‘the Gardener,’” Lance scoffed. “If anything it only makes him sound weak or lame. Besides, we can't go around public talking to each other about ‘the killer.’ It'll only scare people more if they overhear us. Nobody's going to be scared of a Gardener.”

 

“Your friend is right.” Kulai stood up from her seat at the table to address the room. “A disarming name will help to keep the peace if we are overheard. It’s already happened a few times in the past few weeks.”

 

“Well, I like it,” Deatrii said, his voice light and playful in such a dark atmosphere. “We can use it like a nickname. That’s what you called it, right Lance? Nickname?”

 

The Cuban man offered a brilliant smile as an answer but Pidge was a little too overworked to catch on to their inside conversation. 

 

“Generally, nicknames are used between friends or close-knit groups,” Pidge explained. “But yeah, a name that isn’t your name is called a nickname. That’s why I’m called Pidge.”

 

Lance’s eyes widened for a moment before reality set back in, and he rubbed his exhaustion away from his eyes with a chuckle. “I almost forgot that Pidge wasn’t your real name. It’s just so natural to say it now.”

 

Pidge shrugged, a smirk and snarky remark on the tip of her tongue but Deatrii beat her to it.

 

“Very well!”

 

Deatrii dropped an arm over Lance’s shoulders heavily enough to make the boy stagger, but once he righted himself, Lance once again smiled up to the taller alien. Even without a face, it was easy to see Deatrii wearing a smile as well.

 

“Gardener it is, then.”

 

\---

  
  


_ Post mission _

  
  


Keith rubbed away at his eyes as he fought against nagging consciousness, but even in the stiff hospital chair, he found it to be a difficult task. Normally, Keith didn’t need much in order to be comfortable. In all actuality, he could sleep on a concrete floor without much issue at all- and had done so several times in his shack after spending the whole night piecing together the mysteries of the desert. Now, he struggled to find the smallest bit of sleep while Lance lay so blissfully quiet amongst his own dreams. 

 

Lance was doing well enough to have been taken off of oxygen, and he no longer needed his heart monitor constantly hooked up to him anymore, which was great and all, but… now the silence had come back. There was no beeping to confirm the beat of Lance’s heart, only the quiet sound of his breathing and the slight rise and fall from his chest that Keith struggled to find at times.

 

Truthfully, Keith hadn’t had a full night’s rest in a while. Not since leaving the hospital himself, actually. With the stress of the Gardener lurking around, there hadn’t been much of a chance. Now Lance was the source of his worries, and Keith’s aching body and raging mind was having trouble keeping up after all the trouble.

 

A sound broke through the deafening silence and abruptly yanked Keith from his gloomy thoughts. He snapped open his eyes to check the room for any danger, finding none when the sound repeated. Keith zeroed in on Lance, twitching slightly in his sleep. The sound came again through a slightly louder whimper. After a moment had passed, a moan came this time, louder than any of the others, and Lance’s steady breathing changed to short, choppy and rapid.

 

Suddenly, and without any warning, Lance bolted up straight with a shout, his breathing now sporadic as he began coughing and choking on his air. Panic was clear on Lance’s person as he clawed at the brace around his neck, eyes wide and unseeing.

 

“Lance!”

 

Keith shot up to his feet, but before he could reach out to him, Lance managed to rip off the neck brace and hurl it across the room with a near-screaming huff, panting and staring after it as though it were the most dangerous thing in the universe. 

 

“Lance?” Keith tried cautiously, earning a wild, panicked gaze as Lance tried to slow his heavy breathing. “Hey…” Slowly, Keith sat down along the edge of Lance’s bed and reached a hand out to him. “Hey… It’s okay, you’re here. You’re safe.”

 

Just as slowly, Lance curled into himself. His hands clutched the neckline of his hospital gown and his shoulders hunched into his body as much as they possibly could. His body trembled with adrenaline, his eyes remaining wide and unblinking through an uncomfortable mixture of fear, dysphoria and fight or flight coursing through his blood. With each slowing breath, Lance eased into Keith’s chest as slow and cautious as Keith himself.

 

“You’re okay,” Keith repeated, gently placing his hands across Lance’s back. “It was just a dream.”

 

“I-” A wet spot landed on Keith’s shirt, but neither man reacted. “I could feel him on my neck- I couldn't breathe, Keith, it was so real…”

 

“But it wasn’t,” Keith insisted quietly. “It was just a dream.”

 

“... I don’t think it was, though,” Lance admitted, and he seemed to shrink into Keith’s chest as he recalled his nightmare. “You know those dreams where no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to keep your eyes open? So all you get are bits and pieces of a dream, but you can feel it happening all around you. You just can’t see anything.” Lance looked up to Keith with wide, terrified eyes, unnoticed tears streaming down his face, and his body still curled as tightly as he could possibly be into Keith’s chest.  “I think… I think I saw what happened that night.” 

 

Suddenly, Lance gasped, becoming panicked for a whole new reason. “I need Kulai. She's a dream walker, she can help me remember what happened. We can catch this guy! Call her! Call her right now, before I forget!”

 

“Lance-” 

 

“No! No, I mean it,” Lance insisted. “If I can remember his face, then we can catch this son of a bitch!”

 

“It’s too dangerous,” Keith argued. “Kulai said so herself, we need to wait until you’re recovered first.”

 

“I’m practically recovered as it is; the doctors are only keeping me here to-”

 

“ _ Lance _ !”

 

Lance finally registered the iron strong grip Keith had on his shoulders, and noticed just how difficult it was for Keith to keep from shaking as he struggled to breathe properly. He stopped to look into Keith’s eyes, finding fear and desperation, but more than anything, Lance saw frustration. Something that Lance was very familiar with when associating with the black paladin.

 

“ _ Please _ ,” Keith begged, loosening his clutch on Lance. “We almost lost you once… Don’t make us go through that again.”

 

For a long while, the only sounds that filled the room were the uneven, labored breaths of each man as they stared each other down. Lance in a state of amazed ambiguity, and Keith in a level of disheartenment that was slowly becoming the norm as of late.

 

“‘We’?” Lance asked, almost silent.

 

Keith kept his eyes locked with Lance’s. “Everyone was scared, Lance. What’s it going to take to make you see how special you are to us.”

 

There was a slight twitch in Lance’s eye. “What’s it going to take to make you admit it to yourself?”

 

For a moment, Keith was confused as to what Lance meant, but then it clicked. “Not this again.”

 

Lance frowned, finally pulling away from Keith to cross his arms. “Is it so wrong to want to be open?”

 

“It is when it could be used against you.” Keith sat back and avoided Lance’s pout as best he could. “If any enemy wanted to hurt me, our relationship would be the easiest way to go.”

 

“What  _ enemies _ ?” Lance hissed. “We’ve won! There are no more Galra after us here, and even if there were, do you honestly think I’m too weak to defend myself? It’s not like I haven’t done it before. And what about your mom? Wouldn’t it hit harder to go after her?” 

 

“You don’t get it.” Keith shoved himself to his feet with a huff and turned away. He was tired of this same argument.

 

“What’s not to get?” Lance challenged. “You’re scared to admit that you like someone as ridiculous as me. You’re ashamed to, aren’t you?”

 

_ “You don’t get it!” _

 

Instantly, Lance quieted down at Keith’s outburst. Keith stood away, fists clenched tightly at his sides and quaking slightly. His back was to Lance, but even from this angle, it was obvious to see Keith’s hunched shoulders as he fought to keep poisonous words from spewing out of his mouth.

 

Lance  _ didn’t  _ get it. Keith’s mom was a different kind of love. One that he could easily live without because he had spent so much of his life without it before. Arguably, the same thing could be said of his affections about Lance, but Keith couldn’t explain the differences. It was a feeling, and Keith was never very good with feelings. 

 

Being with Lance for the past few months had been filled with ups and downs, but mostly, Keith couldn’t complain. He was happy, and the idea of losing Lance was one that kept Keith awake at night, even now. Keith was used to fighting in order to keep what he had, but up against an invisible enemy, that was truly was unbearable. He simply couldn’t fathom tempting fate again. Not when the universe decided to relieve Keith of his happiness each time it was announced to the world.

 

Lance watched as Keith’s shoulders dropped with a defeated, almost silent sigh, and his fingers relaxed from their grip.

 

“You just don’t get it,” Keith said again, much softer this time.

 

“Alright. Fine.” Lance’s voice was quiet and subdued as Keith turned to face him, but Lance was turned away himself. “I don’t get it.”

 

Exhaustion swept over Keith and suddenly, it was too difficult to stay standing. He dropped like a stone into the uncomfortable hospital chair with a sigh that was much too loud for the quiet atmosphere.

 

“I don't want to fight,” Keith said. “Please, just… I don't want to fight.”

 

“Me either,” Lance whispered. 

 

“We should get some sleep,” Keith suggested. “We're both really tired.”

 

Lance nodded without a word, gaze distant as he held himself and studied the floor. To Keith, it almost seemed as though Lance were internally debating with himself over something. Lance naturally slept on his back, so his cast wasn't really an obstacle for his sleep pattern, but something was definitely bothering him now. He scratched at the dried sweat on the back of his neck before finally laying back and closing his eyes, turning his head to face  _ away _ from Keith. 

 

The black paladin held in another sigh as he looked on despairingly. Now there was no  _ way _ Keith would be getting any sleep tonight. Despite this knowledge, Keith leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest to at least say that he had tried.

 

The silence overtook his senses once more, leaving Keith in his usual unease. The sound of Lance's breaths were indicative of his failed attempts to sleep as well, but it was the only reassurance Keith had that Lance was still alive and in the room. The thought stirred a memory from Keith’s mind.

 

Back before the castle had been destroyed, back before the Blade of Marmora, before Keith and Lance had even started dating or even realized how much they cared for each other. No one knew how it had happened, it just did, and suddenly Keith had been found sitting on the common room couch with a sleeping Pidge in his lap. At first it was a bit uncomfortable. Keith had never been a fairly touchy person after his father had died, and suddenly having such a tender moment with one of his teammates was certainly off-putting. However, it had been days since Pidge had even closed her eyes, so Keith knew how badly she needed to sleep.

 

That was how Lance had found them. Pidge passed out on Keith’s lap while Keith himself watched her chest rise and fall, a small, content smile on his face. Of course, Lance absolutely had to accuse Keith of being a creeper who watched little girls in their sleep. Keith, unfortunately, shot back that he liked to watch people breathe in their sleep, not knowing how to counter the jab without digging himself into a deeper hole. There was no shortage of teasing from Lance at this admission, obviously muffled to allow Pidge her much needed rest, but somehow Lance pried an explanation out of Keith as to why.

 

“If you’re breathing, then I know you’re alive,” Keith muttered. “I can’t always tell when people are silent sleepers, but I can tell when their chest moves. It’s… comforting. To know that they’re alive and not just lying there...” He shook his head, trying to clear his mind from a memory that he wished he could forget. “Whatever, just forget it.”

 

Lance seemed to see this, to see Keith’s struggle, but merely shook his head. “It’s not weird to be put off by death, dude,” he explained. “It is a little weird that that’s what scares you but, hey, who am I to judge?” That earned him a scathing glare, but Lance could only smile. “So you’re not a creeper. You’re just a worrier.” Lance shrugged out of Keith’s range and easily scooted away from a punch to the arm. “Relax, dude, it’s a good thing- as long as you don’t, you know, let it consume you. Worriers care.” He let his smirk overtake the tenderness of the moment. “Aw, Keithy-boy loves us.”

 

Keith opened his eyes to find Lance in bed again, naturally drawn to his chest. The memory brought forth a traitorous tilt of his lips as Keith followed the rise and fall of Lance’s chest. Keith had hated how Lance had simplified his fears so easily at the time, but now, it felt so much better to have an explanation. ‘ _ You love us too much to see us get hurt _ ,’ Lance had said. It was true. So very true. Keith hated it.

 

Several minutes passed in continued silence, and still, Keith lay restless. More than once, without meaning to, Keith had found himself with his eyes open to watch Lance breathe and grew annoyed with himself. He couldn't hold back the grumble in his voice when he spoke.

 

“Can you sleep?” Keith asked.

 

It took a minute, the silence winning once again before Lance finally answered.

 

“No,” he said quietly, face still turned and eyes still closed. “It's too weird.”

 

Strangely enough, Keith could understand what Lance meant. With the combination of his dream and the intensity of their argument all mingling into one, giant shit storm, the emotional roller coaster they had been riding on left them both dizzy and unprepared for the real world once everything settled down again.

 

“You wanna talk?” Lance asked out of the blue.

 

“About what?” Keith replied.

 

“Anything,” Lance said. “Baseball, bubble gum, I don't really care, I just wanna talk.”

 

Keith paused. There was something, but he debated whether or not he wanted to open up another raw conversation with his boyfriend again so soon after an argument. One wrong word and everything would go to hell all over again, but this… Keith felt in his gut that this was something that Lance needed to hear. Something he needed to  _ know _ .

 

“I'm not ashamed of you, Lance,” Keith said softly. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

 

Lance’s form stiffened up. His breathing had quieted to the point of making Keith think he had stopped all together as well, and when he looked, Keith had trouble seeing if Lance’s chest was moving at all. Eerily, Lance’s eyes were opened, shining even in the darkness, and his voice was so soft that Keith just about missed his words entirely.

 

“I really  _ don’t  _ get it.”

 

“... Lance?” There was a slight panic to Keith’s voice.

 

“Get over here.”

 

Keith blinked, caught off guard by the sudden demand and then relieved to have had confirmation that Lance was still there.

 

“Hurry up before I change my mind.”

 

In any other situation, it would have been hilarious to watch Keith scramble from the chair as quickly as he did in order to sit next to Lance as requested. Long, tan fingers stretched out to tangle up with Keith’s, and the warmth of them was a reassurance that Keith didn’t know he had needed until then. Lance still refused to look at Keith, stubborn as always, but even from where Keith was sitting, he could see the crinkle in between Lance’s eyebrows that only came when he was truly upset. Something that Lance hated to show to anyone, let alone someone he cared about. It was that that made up Keith’s mind.

 

“Scoot over.”

 

Lance finally turned to look at Keith, confused. “What?”

 

“Scoot over,” Keith repeated. “As much as you can.”

 

While Lance worked hard to inch his way over to the other side of the bed, Keith unzipped his boots and kicked them off. Once the boots were set neatly on the seat of the abandoned chair, Keith made sure that Lance was covered with the blankets before crawling in beside him. Lance offered his arm to Keith as a pillow, and to hold him as close as he had been aching for for quite some time by then, but Keith made it so much more enjoyable when he curled up against his side and laid his hand over Lance’s heart.

 

At last, Keith felt at ease with Lance’s heartbeat beneath his fingers. His peace multiplied tenfold when Lance hid a kiss in his dark hair, and Keith sighed contently. The two spoke quietly for only a few minutes more before sleep finally took them off to a deep, dreamless rest.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed this about myself recently but I like to watch my dogs breathe when they sleep. There's this irrational fear I've had ever since one of my dogs died a few years ago that they'll just be dead in my bed next to me and I won't even know it because it looks like they're asleep- so I'm totally projecting that fear onto Keith. I may write out why Keith is afraid, I may not. I know exactly why it works for him, but I'll have to see if it fits into the story.
> 
> Tell me what you think, I love talking with you guys


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tension runs high for everyone everywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished chapter 12! :D
> 
> I'm halfway through 13 now and I'm debating an epilogue. Thoughts?

  
  
  


**Chapter 5**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


“So tell me a little about yourself,” Lance said with a smile and a ridiculous wink. “You know all about me, legendary defender of the universe and all that. It’s only fair that you tell me a little bit about yourself, don’t you think?”

 

If ever a faceless being could display an expression of ‘absolutely done with your shit,’ somehow, Kulai seemed to manage it to perfection. “Are you attempting to flirt with me?”

 

Lance froze, his smile still in place but his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

 

“We’re running out of time before the next kill, and you’re trying to fornicate with me.” It was more of a statement than anything else, bringing out a chuckle from across the room. 

 

“Humans are so strange,” Deatrii said. “Though, I will say, you are a bold one, paladin.”

 

“He has to be if he took on the whole universe,” Kulai said, not even mildly impressed.

 

Out of nowhere, Keith slammed a thick folder down onto the table, forcing all three beings to jump at the sudden, loud noise.

 

“If you’ve got time to flirt, then you’ve got time to go over the list of missing people and other reported crimes in the surrounding cities to find a connection,” Keith said, matter-of-factly. “I’d advise putting a rush on it before the Gardener finds someone else tomorrow.”

 

“What?!” Lance looked to the overstuffed folder with overwhelming horror. “Are you kidding? I can’t read all that by tomorrow!”

 

Keith cocked a brow, but otherwise he remained entirely bored with the conversation. “The amazing Lance unable to do something? Shocking.”

 

Lance opened his arms in a welcoming, slightly pleading gesture. “Keith, buddy, friendo, my guy. Come on.”

 

“I’ll help.” Both Lance and Keith turned to find Deatrii holding a tentacle up. “You have to admit that it is quite a feat, and I believe the saying is ‘two eyes are better than one.’” Deatrii paused, the tip of his hand curling slightly to indicate uncertainty. “Although, I don’t really understand that phrase, since you have two eyes already.”

 

“It’s heads, actually. Not eyes,” Keith griped. He was having another bad headache at the moment that only worsened his mood, but Lance was far less grumpy.

 

“Awesome, thanks, man! With your help, we can get this knocked out in a cinch.” Lance scooped up the heavy folder and practically slid it along the table to meet with Deatrii. Nearly four inches worth of paper was crammed into what should have been a binder, but instead of the trepidation Lance showed before, he now seemed excited.

 

Keith quickly turned away from the sight in order to go over his own information, but his irritation kept him from concentrating on the words before him.

 

“I am serious though,” Lance said. “I’d like to know more about you guys. Especially if we’re going to be working together in the future.”

 

“Is this an interview?” Kulai asked as she sorted through her own stack. “Because I feel that this could wait until later.”

 

“What? No,” Lance propped his chin on a fist to watch Kulai. “It’s socializing. Getting to know each other in a friendly way.” This prompted Kulai to jerk her head up and stare Lance down with her strange, eyeless stare and made Lance jump to hold his hands up. “Purely platonic, I assure you.”

 

“I’ve seen this before,” Deatrii piped up. “The smaller human offspring try to do this with me quite often, Kulai. The paladin speaks the truth.”

 

“Of course I do,” Lance grinned. “Tell you what, we can make it a game. It’s called twenty questions.”

 

“Is that a real game?” Again, Deatrii chuckled. “Sounds a little too simple.”

 

“Quit messing around, Lance,” Keith snapped. “You need to focus on the case.”

 

“And you need to chill out,” Lance backfired. “You look like crap- when was the last time you took a break?” Lance held a hand up before Keith could bark back at him. “And what about team bonding? You’re the one who’s always going on about it. I’d say this definitely counts as good rapport.”

 

That smarmy grin of his grew to ridiculous proportions as Lance turned back to Deatrii, making Keith bristle.

 

“So. Question one.”

 

For the next forty minutes, Keith sat stewing in his own irritation as he overheard Lance's conversation with Deatrii, learning that all of their kind had exceptional, pinpoint hearing and that males have four arms while females only have two, or how their tentacles opened up at the ends into a three pronged hand, or that Kulai was actually a dreamwalker and had the ability to see into people’s minds through touch  _ with _ said hands. It was all innocent enough and rather intriguing up until Deatrii explained what he found attractive in a partner, or how he liked to eat sweets with other people rather than on in his own, or that Deatrii’s favorite color was  _ actually _ a shade of blue very similar to Lance's eyes now that Deatrii could lean in close enough to see them.

 

At that, Keith had had enough. To be fair, neither he nor Lance had thought that Keith would have made it that far, but by then, his nerves were paper thin, and his headache wasn't doing him any favors. He shot to his feet and stormed out of the room without a word, leaving his teammates behind.

 

It didn't take long for Lance to come after him. Shortly after Keith had found a secluded area with an unlocked maintenance closet, the sound of Lance's leisurely pace filled the empty hall. When he came into sight, Keith snatched Lance by his collar and dragged him into the closet.

 

“What are you doing?” Keith asked.

 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked innocently. “I'm doing paperwork, just like you asked.”

 

“Stop it, Lance,” Keith hissed. “You know exactly what I'm talking about.”

 

Lance leaned back on his long, lean legs and crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, do you not like it when I flirt?”

 

“Of course not,” Keith snapped. “Why would I?”

 

“Because you wanted me to act normal so no one suspects that we were dating.”

Lance's voice and expression stayed flat, but the hurt and anger in his eyes was clear as day to Keith.

 

Keith's anger doubled at the sight of it. “That doesn’t mean you have to-”

 

“Oh, but I do,” Lance went on, merciless. “Because you’re the one who wants me to act like nothing changed between us.” He stood up from the wall, dropping his hands to his hips. “You're the one who wants to hide us in a closet.”

 

“Seriously?” Keith asked. “Do you  _ really _ want to have this conversation out in the open?”

 

“Why? Do you not have time for my shit?” 

 

“What- is  _ that _ what this is about?” Keith asked, thinking back to Lance's florist theory. “I said I was sorry-”

 

“Yeah, behind closed doors, without anyone to see us interact, like usual,” Lance huffed. “I could really feel the sincerity, man, let me tell you.”

 

“Oh, my-” An exacerbated growl shoved out of Keith as he gripped his hair in a fury before snapping his glare back at Lance. “Do you even care about this relationship?”

 

“I’m not the one who literally jumped ship as soon as we started dating.”

 

A physical pain that Keith had never known before hit his heart like an actual bullet. Memories of Lance watching Keith leave for The Blade of Marmora just days after his confession left a gaping hole in Keith's chest, the remorse of his sudden departure evident in Lance's longing gaze as Keith turned and walked away. Now the hurt in Lance's eyes no longer angered Keith, but brought on an onslaught of even more pain.

 

“I had to leave,” Keith said, looking away from the emotion in Lance's eyes. “You know why.”

 

“No, actually, I don’t.” Lance spat, making Keith even more upset.

 

“I can’t explain it,” Keith said, but Lance had had enough.

 

“You never can.”

 

The remark was small, but powerful. Keith burst from the closet in a blind rage, not even noticing Deatrii as he charged down the hallway towards the training deck to clear his head and blow off some steam. Deatrii had come searching for the two in hopes of figuring out why Keith had left in the first place, but now, he watched Keith for a few moments before pointing his bewilderment to Lance.

 

“Has something happened?” he asked.

 

Lance bit back a thousand different smart remarks he could have bitterly answered with and merely stepped out of the closet to lean against the wall.

 

“Keith is just having a bad day,” Lance muttered, barely holding back his contempt. It did not go unmissed.

 

“Humans don't do well with little sleep, do they?” Deatrii asked, having not seen either human rest much in the past few days.

 

“No we do not.” Again, there was a bitterness to Lance's voice that put Deatrii into a sense of unease.

 

“I see.”  Suddenly, Deatrii turned his entire body to Lance to hold out an offering arm. “Shall I hide you in my jeep for a nap, then?”

 

He couldn't help it, Lance laughed. Loudly, boisterously, and quite suddenly. The chipperness to Deatrii’s voice, the idea of being snuck to and crammed inside of a jeep, the alien’s desire to have Lance be happy despite the current threat and Keith's sour behavior, the absolute absurdity of it all- Lance couldn't decide what it was that made everything alright at that moment, but he was glad that Deatrii had been there to provide it.

 

“You know what? I'd love to.” Lance held up a finger before Deatrii could commence with his ‘sneaking.’ “But I think I'll use my bed.”

 

\---

 

_ Post mission _

  
  


It was a rare occasion when Hunk scowled with conviction, but that instant was one of the few exceptions. He glared at the pit where they had found Lance, trying to piece together the scene that had happened so recently before, but the parts weren't adding up. Something was wrong.

 

“This doesn't make sense,” Hunk grumbled. “Where did you go?”

 

Hunk rubbed at his chin, slightly irritated with the clues he had been given. Moreover, the lack of clues that had been left behind. There was nothing. No evidence of the Gardener even existing. It was like he had never been there in the first place.

 

Around the scene, Griffin’s MFE squadron documented and studied the area, taking pictures and looking for more clues to help them find out what had happened and where the Gardener may now be hiding. Hunk had worked with them previously before, and he had never really had any trouble getting along with them or anyone else, really, but they were still relatively new to his life. It felt weird to him to casually start speaking to himself as he often did when he was frustrated and faced with a difficult problem.

 

“Is it alright if I bounce some ideas off you guys?” Hunk asked. “Somethin’ ain’t right.”

 

“I was thinking the same thing,” Griffin admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything until I figured out what, though.”

 

“Same here.” Rizavi stood up from inspecting scrapes in the algae along the floor, a serious look to here face. “So far I’ve only found signs of a struggle from one pair. There’s no evidence of a third person being here.”

 

“And if there was, they never touched the ground.” Leifsdottir was crouched down still, studying what she could of the concrete beneath the water and pointed at the scuff marks that Rizavi had been looking at. “What little evidence that was not washed away shows that there are only two sets of footprints that are indicative with Straluu and Espinosa, along with only one area of struggle that corresponds with Espinosa’s confrontation with the subject known as the Gardener.”

 

“There’s also the fact that the guy got away so fast,” Griffin piped. “First off: how? Or did he even run away at all?”

 

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked.

 

Griffin gestured to the pit in its entirety, about three hundred feet long before it tapered off into a different section. The pit itself was shallow, about waist deep when standing and formed an easy path for the water to follow. At the other end of the room was the generator that had once spouted the water through to the chute-like pit with a pool area to gather the collected water. 

 

“We got here pretty quick,” Griffin went on. “Less than five minutes, I'd bet.”

 

“You would win that bet. We made it in precisely three minutes and fifty-two seconds,” Leifsdottir said.

 

“Thanks, Leif,” Griffin said, then went back to his explanation. “The only other exit is down at the end of this chute and that leads to a caged off section that only the water can pass through. He'd either have to book it to murder two people and get out in time, go through the hallways that we used without us seeing him, or hide and wait us out for a clean getaway.” He turned to Leifsdottir. “What’s the probability of someone successfully hiding from us in the time it took for us to find Lance and Deatrii?”

 

She took a moment to quickly assess the area. “With how thorough we searched the area and how few spaces there are to actually use as cover, approximate estimate would be less than ten percent.”

 

“And if he were to run to the other end?”

 

“Also in the single digits.”

 

Hunk pursed his lips in thought, brow cocked high. “We’re looking for an alien though, so our stats won’t match up with theirs. He could have camouflaged, maybe? Gone invisible to the human eye?”

 

“He could have,” Griffin agreed. “But he would have had to leave the pit so the water wouldn't show where he was standing. Not to mention, I don’t remember seeing any splashes or footprints on either side of this pit when we got here.”

 

Again, another rare exception happened, and Hunk scowled as he remembered the night that Lance was nearly killed. “To be fair, no one was really paying attention to the fine details while Veronica was trying to bring Lance back from the dead.”

 

At that, Griffin quieted. If any one of his teammates had been put through hell and Griffin had to sit back and do nothing like Hunk had with Lance, he couldn’t really blame the paladin for being a little touchy about anything to do with the subject. So, Griffin backed down. For the moment, at least.

 

Hunk propped his elbow up over his chest to hook a finger along his chin. He scrutinized everything around him, taking in whatever he could. Not knowing everything about the situation was extremely frustrating, especially with his best friend laid up in the hospital because of it. He just needed answers. He mumbled a bit under his breath as his thoughts mashed together to try and make sense of things. “What if our guy can float? Or maybe he teleported?”

 

“There is no record of any alien that has joined Earth with floating capabilities,” Leifsdottir explained. “However, that does not excuse the possibility that one may have escaped the system in order to hide their existence.”

 

“And if they teleported, there still would have been evidence that they would have landed, either in the algae or a wet spot on the floor,” Rizavi agreed.

 

Kinkade had stayed suspiciously quiet throughout the conversation, and when Hunk turned to look, he found the man glaring at the ceiling. “Ideas, Kinkade?” Hunk asked. “You look like you’re thinking pretty hard there.”

 

Kinkade nodded, still staring at the ceiling like it had offended him somehow. “Some of the aliens that have come to Earth can climb and swing with their limbs as a form of transportation. It keeps them off the ground,” he said, voice naturally low. “But I’m not seeing how they could do that in here either. Everything is smooth and flat. They would have nothing to grip.”

 

Vexation grew strong within Griffin with every word he heard. Nothing made sense when comparing the evidence to the story. So far, it all added up to one thing: the Gardener had never been there.

 

“It may be time to come to terms with the truth,” Griffin said. “All evidence points to Lance and Deatrii being the only ones here since the invasion of Earth.”

 

“That can’t be right, though!” Hunk said, growing more frustrated the longer he tried to figure out their current predicament. He felt guilty enough that he couldn't have helped Lance when he needed help the most, but now Hunk couldn't even manage to figure out how to help Lance from the safety of the aftermath either. “Look, I know what we’re seeing doesn’t match up with what happened, but the fact of the matter is, we have one dead officer and another in the hospital with the Gardener’s signature all over him. Now there is a killer on the loose, and we have to figure out what happened here so we can find him and stop him before he goes after anybody else; and frankly, I don’t care what we have to do in order to do it.”

 

With the proclamation made, Hunk set back to work, storming over to a new area of the crime scene to try and find more clues. The others remained stationary long enough to share a long, weighted stare with each other, before following Hunk’s lead and getting back to the scene. This couldn't be it. There had to be more, something they were all missing, and now they were more determined than ever to find out what.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Thoughts? Theories? Conspiracies? I wanna hear'em all.
> 
> Tell me what you think, I love talking with you guys


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding, bonding and more bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two posts within the hour, I'm on a freakin' roll here. Happy holidays :)

  
  
  


**Chapter 6**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


A nap was just what Lance had needed. He had to admit, Deatrii was right. Now if only Deatrii could handle his next problem with just as much ease. Lance sighed at himself and the situation he had put himself in. Picking a fight with Keith had sounded like a much better idea at the time. Now, all he wanted to do was take back what he had said. Well, not all of it.

 

The fight had definitely shed some light on a few of Lance’s insecurities and he was glad that he was able to get them out of his head, but he only wished he had taken the time to talk them out rather than spew accusations at his boyfriend. Now Keith probably thought Lance hated him. Or worse: was only doing any of this for attention.

 

Lance hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut in self-aggravation. He knew he could be a bit much at times- he even encouraged it from time to time, but Lance never wanted to be viewed as a dramatic, self-absorbed crybaby who manipulated his partners. History had shown those types to be the worst kind of people, at least in Lance’s opinion. He certainly never wanted to make Keith feel that way.

 

Lance opened his eyes to the plate of food in his hands as he leaned against the door to the training deck. He couldn’t remember seeing the last time Keith had eaten, and he figured it would be a nice peace offering if anything else. Now, Lance was wondering if Keith even wanted to see him at all. Still, Keith needed to eat, and Lance had gone out of his way to make sure he got what he knew the black paladin liked. Even if Keith didn’t want to talk, Lance wanted to make sure that Keith ate at least. So, with that in mind, Lance took a deep breath and stepped inside.

 

The sight of a training Keith was nowhere to be found. In fact, the deck was completely empty. Lance looked around the room, confused for a moment before he noticed a dark lump curled up at the edge of the deck.

 

The lump turned out to be Keith sitting on a stoop in front of the wall length window, rubbing at his eyes as though in pain. It was then when Lance remembered that Keith had been having headaches since his concussion from Voltron, and Lance felt guilty for the fight all over again. This time around, Lance was determined to keep their conversation quiet and civil for the sake of Keith's head.

 

Keith sat silently, arms crossed over his knees and chin resting atop them as he watched the sun begin its descent for evening. He didn’t even respond when Lance stepped up and sat down next to him, save for gripping his sleeves tighter. Keith simply stared ahead, not bothering to make eye contact.

 

“I brought you dinner,” Lance tried. “If you’re hungry.”

 

Keith said nothing, still staring ahead. Lance sighed at this and scratched at the back of his neck.

 

“Hey, man,” Lance began. “I'm sorry for starting all this.”

 

“No.” Keith kept his eyes forward. “You didn’t start this. I did.”

 

“How?” Lance asked. “You didn't pick the fight.”

 

Still Keith sat, never moving, but his gaze dropped to his feet. “Yes I did. I never say anything right.”

 

“And I never let things go when I should.” Lance placed a hand over Keith’s shoulder, silently asking to have Keith’s full attention. “I know you meant it when you apologized before. I was just hanging onto it because I was looking for things to be angry about with you. I just…” 

 

Lance looked away, ashamed of admitting his faults and even more insecurities to Keith, and he began to ramble. “We’ve both been under a lot of stress lately, neither of us has slept or eaten well, we’ve been working ourselves to the bone on this case and haven’t really had any time to ourselves or go on any dates or even hold hands and none of that helps the fact that I’m scared that you don’t really care about me and that you only want me as a side-piece because I’m just  _ me _ and a handful of other stupid fears and it was just one, big shit storm waiting to happen.”

 

“What?” Finally, Keith moved. He whipped his head over to Lance, completely bewildered. “What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘side-piece’?” 

 

Lance shrugged, shaking his head to the floor. “Like I said, just a bunch of stupid stuff.”

 

“You’re damn right it’s stupid.” Keith curled over so that he could look Lance right in the eye. “Lance, you are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Why on Earth would I ever not care about you?”

 

At that, Lance finally locked onto Keith’s eyes as well. He took a long moment to study Keith, but when he found only true, honest sincerity, Lance’s lip trembled into a shaky smile. “Well looky there. You said something right.”

 

Keith blinked, confused. “I just said what was true.”

 

“I know you did.” Lance breathed out a laugh, smiling to the floor to keep the tears at bay. “You’re always so blunt, why wouldn’t it be true.”

 

“Lance.”

 

At the sound of his name, Lance looked up to find Keith watching him with concern and a bit of frustration. It looked as though Keith had something to say but was struggling to get it out. Lance waited for him, knowing that however easy it was for Lance to talk, it was twice as difficult for Keith to get any words out; especially any words with real meaning. So Lance waited for what he knew Keith meant with all his heart.

 

“Look,” Keith said finally. “I know I’m not really great with talking or emotions or anything dealing with a relationship, really.” Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s hand, slipping his fingers over gently. “But I want to try. You make me want to try. I know I’m going to mess it up but… I’m here if you need me. I want to be.”

 

The tears were just begging to fall from Lance's eyes and he yanked his head away to keep Keith from seeing them, but it was too late. Keith's eyes widened and with Lance's reaction to pull away, Keith did the same.

 

“I'm sorry! I didn't mean-”

 

“Boy, it sure is dusty in here!” Lance crowed, interrupting Keith so he could discreetly wipe at his eyes. “Phew! Must have followed us from the castle! So much dust.”

 

Keith watched Lance in an all new state of confusion and a little bit of apprehension. “Lance?”

 

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Lance insisted, then threw his arms over Keith's shoulders. He squeezed tight, nuzzling close to mumble happily in Keith's ear. “Perfectly fine.”

 

“Oh, uh… Okay…” Keith awkwardly returned the hug, but after a moment, the stiffness in his body melted away at the feeling of Lance's smile on his skin. “So… is there anything we need to talk about?”

 

“Nope. Uh-uh, not right now.” Lance nuzzled deeper into Keith's neck. “I don't want to ruin this moment, we can fight about it later.”

 

“Why does it have to be a fight? Can't we just talk?” Keith asked.

 

“Yes, but not now,” Lance insisted, voice growing soft. “Right now is too perfect to ruin with bad thoughts.”

 

Lance could practically see the hamster in the hamster wheel running a mile a minute inside Keith's brain and he couldn't help but smile more. Meanwhile, Keith was trying to figure out his next move as he held Lance close.

 

“Oh. Okay. Then, uh…” Keith was growing tense again, his words uncertain. “Do you want to… eat with me?”

 

Lance immediately pulled away to hold Keith at arms length by the shoulders and stared at him. “Do I want to what now?” 

 

Keith frowned, still stiff in Lance's arms and looking for a way to explain himself. He started strong, but his voice dwindled into practically nothing by the end of it, only making Lance's smile stretch wider and wider with every mumbled word.

 

“Well,” Keith looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. “You just said that we hadn't gone on a date in a while so I figured that might be something else you're worried about, so… yeah… forget it.”

 

Lance was beaming.

 

“I most certainly will not forget it, pass me the potato chips.”

  
  
  
  


_ Post mission _

\---

 

“May I come in?”

 

Lance looked up to find Rizavi standing in his doorway, looking around. When they caught eyes, Lance couldn’t help but see a bit of disappointment once she realized that he was the only one in the room.

 

“Hey, Rizavi,” Lance waved her in. “Something I can help you with?”

 

“Oh, not really.” She gave him an easy smile and tucked a tablet behind her back in a relaxed stance as she walked up to him, completely friendly and nonchalant. “I was actually hoping to find your sister here. If she’s not at headquarters then my guess is there’s a good chance she’s hanging out here.”

 

“Yeah, you guessed right,” Lance snickered. “She’s picking up my lunch. Don’t tell the nurses though; we’re not supposed to have outside food.”

 

“Sounds about right,” Rizavi laughed.

 

Lance nodded to the tablet behind her back. “That the case?”

 

“Hm? Oh, yeah, kinda.” Rizavi pulled the tablet out to show it to Lance. “These are the findings from the crime scene. Veronica wanted a copy when we finished filing the report; said to find her no matter what.”

 

Lance took the offered tablet and opened up the awaiting file, taking notice of the photos first before reading anything. Pictures of a concrete structure showed up, one by one, showing different angles of a large pit with about a foot of water filling up the bottom. He could feel it, then. The hard, painful smash of falling into the pit, the cold of the water surrounding him just as another force took hold of him and immobilized him, trapping him just enough to keep him from struggling or escaping. Flashes of his dream from the night before burned behind his eyes as he flicked through the album, forcing a scowl to grow over his bruised face and Rizavi to take notice.

 

“See anything you remember?” she asked, cautiously.

 

Rizavi didn’t receive an answer. Instead, Lance kept his focus on the photos before him. It was an odd sensation, wanting to throw the tablet away to keep from reliving his nightmares, but also wanting to keep going in order to use the memories to his advantage. Lance swallowed down his emotions to keep from panicking and forced himself to calm down.

 

“Why did Veronica want to see this so badly?” Lance asked quietly. “This isn't even her case.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Rizavi scoffed. “Veronica wants this guy just as bad as you do. Actually, more so now because of how he hurt you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she fought the guy off and won, if she ever found him.” She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. “Your sister’s a badass.”

 

“Runs in the family,” Lance grinned, putting on a show to regain his senses.

 

“Don’t listen to him. I worked for that status all on my own.”

 

Both Rizavi and Lance jumped as Veronica swung the door open, a bag of take out from a recently restored restaurant dangling from her wrist. She had on a grin that easily twinned her brother’s as she stepped through the doorway, but she stopped short once she noticed Lance’s guest.

 

“Oh,” Veronica smiled. “Nadia, what a surprise.”

 

“A good one, I hope,” Rizavi returned Veronica’s smile. “I just came by to drop off the report you requested.”

 

Serious Veronica mode  _ activate. _

 

Lance snickered quietly to himself as he watched his sister flip like a switch, changing from the friendly, playful woman that he was very much in love with to the serious officer that the military had required her to be. It was nothing new to Lance, even before she had joined the Garrison, Veronica had always had this ability. In fact, it seemed to be a family trait, seeing as every one of his family members was able to go from laughing to planning in a split second. Out of all of them, however, Veronica tended to perfect this technique to an art.

 

Rizavi seemed to notice this skill as well. All playfulness had left her at the mention of work, and her eyes locked on to her commanding officer’s form with ease. There was something else, though, and Lance was quick to catch onto it. 

 

Once Rizavi had finished her report, she saluted Veronica and bid Lance farewell, allowing the two to get started on their meal. Veronica set to work pulling the food from the back and placing the designated boxes across the bedside table, all the while being watched closely by her deviously grinning brother.

 

“She likes you,” Lance smirked.

 

“What?” Veronica scoffed, yanking the plastic off of some silverware. “No way. How can you tell?”

 

_ Because she looks at you the same way I look at Keith. _

 

Lance didn’t say this, but smiled instead. “She has the look of  _ love  _ in her eyes.”

 

Veronica scoffed again. “You’re like, ten. What do you know about love?”

 

“Excuse you, I am a solid  _ twelve  _ years old, thank you very much! And I know a lot more than you give this twelve year old credit for!” Lance bantered, then held out his hand for the tablet. “Now gimme. I wanna read while I eat.”

 

“Nope.” Veronica tipped her nose to the sky as she walked away with tablet in hand. “You're on bed rest, which means resting in bed and not working. Besides, as long as you're off duty, that means I get to be too.”

 

“What?” Lance cried. “No you don't, you get to go back to work every day!”

 

Veronica snorted as she sat back down onto the bed to begin eating. “Yeah, but when I'm here, I don't have to be so serious all the time.”

 

“Yeah, about that.” Lance crossed his arms, suddenly serious himself. “It  _ is  _ a disturbing sight. You need to knock that shit off.”

 

Lance will always deny yelping as noodles were flung into his face, but Veronica was there as witness to testify against him. 

 

Time passed by easily enough after that. The noodles were tasty enough to satisfy the hunger in Lance’s belly, but memories of similar food cropped up in his mind. The Chinese restaurant with Mr. Choi and his wife. The nice shaved ice cart that always roamed the street for an easy dessert after. The pizza shack with garlic knots… 

 

Thinking of the small restaurant culdesac back home gave Lance pause. There was a good chance that none of those things were there anymore; not after the attack. Slowly, Lance lifted his eyes to his sister, slurping up her own noodles.

 

“Hey,” he said softly. “So, have you heard about home? The uh… the beach house?”

 

“Hmm?” She had a mouthful of noodles she was chewing through, but Veronica worked her words around it. “Oh you mean Varadero? Yeah, I’ve heard they started repairs there too.”

 

Lance pushed his food around in his to-go box, not keeping eyes with his sister. “How's it look?”

 

Veronica shrugged, not entirely devoted to the conversation as she fought with a stubborn carrot stuck in the corner of her own to-go box. “I don't know. I haven't been back since before the attack.” She stopped her assault on the carrot to look at Lance. “You weren't the only one who wanted to be the best at the Garrison, little bro.”

 

At this, Lance snickered, but it lacked the viggor that came with his usual demeanor. “Yeah… yeah…”

 

That caught Veronica’s attention, so she put her box down and leaned forward, crossing her arms over the table.

 

“It’ll be okay,” she promised. “Everyone around the world is working together to get back on our feet, including Varadero. Home will still be there.”

 

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same.” Lance abandoned his own food, not entirely hungry anymore as he realized that his dreams of sharing the beauty of his home were now dashed. No one would ever be able to see what Lance had seen. Not unless they had the ability to see memories. Not unless they could walk through his dreams… 

 

“Hey,” Lance started again.” “I’ve been thinking… I want to try having Kulai read my memories.”

 

Veronica stiffened, but made no move to argue. “Got a good reason why?”

 

Lance nodded. “They’ve been coming back to me, piece by piece.” He looked to his sister, eyes honest. “I think if I were to give them a little push, I might be able to remember everything.” 

 

It took a long moment for Veronica to study her brother, but his eyes were sincere as she searched him. No fear, no stubbornness, simply an earnest need for knowing what had happened. Not only to himself, but to his friend.

 

“Alright,” Veronica sighed. “I don’t like it, but alright.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah.”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance is just joking with his sister; he's not twelve. He's actually five.
> 
> Tell me what you think, I love talking with you guys


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has figured out how to capture the Gardener. Now, all they have to do is follow the plan. 
> 
>  
> 
> What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: A bit of violence and character death in this chapter.

  
  
  
  


**Chapter 7**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

  
  


Everyone jumped when Pidge burst into the room and marched unchallenged to the table with her laptop. She set up quickly and naturally, unperturbed by the startled people around her.

 

“Pidge?” Lance questioned.

 

“I think I know how to find him,” was all she said, still setting up.

 

“What? That's great! How?” Lance was by her side within the second but Pidge slapped his hand when he tried to touch her computer, bringing out a yelp. “Hey!”

 

“Don't touch my stuff,” Pidge said, not even thinking about it before presenting her findings. “The city itself was built around the ruins of the purification plant because it still had structured walls and foundation for the people to use. Some of the old security cameras from the plant came back up when they figured out how to power the city with the plant’s old generators. When I checked the history accounts, I found that someone had been logging into the system and checking the cameras recently.”

 

“Well, yes, of course. You’re trying to restore the plant, correct?” Deatrii asked. “I thought people were working to bring back everything associated with it; including the cameras.”

 

“That’s right,” Kulai said. “It’s a known fact that the plant will help replenish your drinking water, but my security team has been using the cameras to monitor the area for any crime activity. It’s been fairly successful so far.” 

 

“Yeah, I know all that, but I did some digging.” Pidge nodded to the twins. “At first I thought it was the repair crew, but it was the same guy every time, and he was using an encrypted account that couldn’t be traced. That doesn’t sound like a repairman who has nothing to hide.”

 

“So you think it’s Gardener,” Keith concluded, earning a grin from Pidge.

 

“I know it is.” Pidge pushed her glasses up along the bridge of her nose and finally turned to the group that had gathered around her. “He's using the schematics of the city and purification plant to choose and dump his targets. The old security system has cameras set up all over the place but only certain ones are functional, and the ones that aren't are where he attacks.”

 

“Makes sense,” Keith said. “If you're going to kill someone, you wouldn't want to be seen.”

 

“Exactly.” Pidge pulled up a list of code that extended well past her screen and sat back to show it off. “If I can hack into the system, then we can get those cameras working again to keep an eye on the place- but here's the real plan.”

 

A sinister grin that Lance and Keith were very much familiar with spread wickedly across Pidge’s face to make the small paladin look excruciatingly intimidating. 

 

“I'm going to make it look like we never fixed the cameras at all,” Pidge said, matter-of-factly. “It'll look exactly the same to our guy while he's hunting. As soon as he does, I can monitor when he tries to log into them and track him down without him being the wiser. We can find and catch this guy before another person has to get hurt.”

 

Lance was smiling from ear to ear. “Pidge, have I mentioned lately that you're a genius?”

 

“Yes,” Pidge grinned as she fiddled with her glasses. “But you could say it more often.”

 

“Good work, Pidge,” Keith told her. “Let’s keep this information between us. If the Gardener is a part of the repair crew, we don’t want him catching onto us.”

 

“I agree,” Kulai said. “The fewer who know about this, the better.”

 

Lance had on his ridiculous smirk again as he cracked his knuckles obnoxiously. “Yeah, let’s get this thing started. What are we waiting for?”

 

“Oh no, I already started,” Pidge said, smirking just as wickedly to Lance. “I just wanted to share my brilliance.” The smirk instantly fell away. “Plus if I didn’t tell you guys and someone tried to ‘fix’ what I had done, the whole plan would have gone kaputz.”

 

At that, Deatrii couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thanks for sharing.”

 

\---

 

It hadn’t taken long for Pidge to set up her trap. By evening the next night, everyone was spread out about the city on watch for their prey. Well, that was the plan, at least. Keith checked the time on the scanner on his wrist for the third time in as many minutes as he waited in the crowded street. Kulai had said that two of her volunteers would be helping in the operation for the night, but before they could, Pidge had insisted that they needed to update their communication devices in order to stay in contact with the group. She was right, of course, but they were wasting time meeting up right then. If only they had planned for this sooner. 

 

At last, Lance slapped a hand across Keith’s arm and pointed to two individuals walking towards them that matched Kulai’s description of the volunteers. Ashanti and Elian were human, with similar shades of dark skin and identical brown eyes that gave away the secret of them being related somehow. Keith and Lance made quick work of the pair’s devices and tested the connection with Pidge, going over the plan one last time before sending the brother and sister off on their specified patrols.

 

With their final chore out of the way, Keith and Lance hurried off in the other direction to their own patrols. As they walked together, a group of children ran past, laughing and playing a game of chase. One of the children tripped and knocked a woman’s laundry basket out of her arms and onto the concrete, causing Keith to rush forward and help. It wasn’t a huge mess, merely a spilled blanket at best, but Keith spent a good minute crouched over the basket trying to fold it back in before handing it back to the woman with a small smile. Lance was watching Keith with a smile of his own.

 

“You shouldn’t do that.”

 

“Do what?” Keith asked, turning a confused look to Lance.

 

“You know exactly what,” Lance smirked. Keith didn’t.

 

“No, I don’t, actually.” Keith scowled at Lance. “We’re supposed to help people. Why are you saying I shouldn’t?”

 

Lance raised his brow high with an unbelieving hum, a fresh, smug look directed solely at Keith. “Alright, handsome, if that’s the way you wanna play it. I see how it is.”

 

“You’re not making any sense, Lance,” Keith grumbled. “And don’t say things like that out in the open. Someone might hear you.”

 

“You’re one to talk.” Lance snuck up right along Keith’s back practically skin to skin before Keith could respond, leaning in so close that when he whispered, Keith could feel Lance’s breath tickle his skin. “If you want me to behave, then you really shouldn’t be waving this thing around.”

 

Without warning, Lance squeezed a healthy handful of Keith’s ass with the wickedest of grins and scurried away to his post with an extremely satisfied laugh at the sound of Keith’s yelp. The confusing mixture of anger and arousal that swarmed Keith while he watched his boyfriend run away was enough to make him dizzy.

 

“Damn it, Lance!”

 

Keith only received another laugh in response and a wink as Lance turned around a corner to find his station. It was small, hardly even noticeable from so far away, but Keith had seen it nonetheless. Regardless of his irritation with the man, Keith couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment. They had been too busy with the case to find the time to flirt, but of course Keith’s ridiculous boyfriend would make time.

 

_ “Testing, test.” _

 

Keith jumped at the sudden voice in his ear.

 

_ “Check, one two; can everybody hear me ok?” _

 

The sound of Pidge’s voice echoed through Keith's helmet, and Keith sighed at himself for being so startled. One by one, each member sounded off on their confirmations.

 

“I can hear you, Pidge,” Keith said, sounding just as tired as he felt.

 

_ “Yeah, I can too.” _ Lance sounded way too chipper.

 

_ “Great. Now listen up.” _ Pidge was definitely ready to head home. _ “There's still no sign of the Gardener touching the cameras but as soon as I get a hit, I'll let you know which section he's in. Whoever's in that section can find him first while the rest of the team come in for back up. Sound good?” _

 

_ “Roger that, Pigeonator,” _ Lance said, his voice mocking that of a smarmy airline pilot.  _ “Better take note that the Gardener is going down tonight by none other than yours truly.” _

 

_ “My hero,” _ Pidge said flatly. 

 

“Guys, focus,” Keith interrupted. “He may not have touched the security system yet but he could still be out here on the lookout, so we should be too.” 

 

_ “Quite right,” _ Deatrii said. _ “My instincts tell me that he already has his victim chosen and he’s just waiting on us to slip so he can take her.” _

 

_ “Aye, aye, cap’n.” _ This time Lance mimicked a pirate.  _ “We be on the lookout for shady folk and the like.” _

 

_ “I swear to God, Lance,” _ Pidge grumbled over the com.

 

“Guys. Focus.”

 

It was like herding cats.

 

The line stayed quiet for a while after that. The occasional quick remark was said here and there, and much to everyone’s dismay, Lance shamelessly flirted with the young Miss Ashanti over the line relentlessly. Keith was more than grateful when her brother Elian was quick to shut Lance down and put him in his place. Other than that, for the most part everyone had settled down. Each member scanned the crowds in the areas that they were assigned and reported what they saw, but so far, nothing seemed out of place.

 

Keith checked the time again just as the second hour mark had passed. The crowds went on as usual, preparing the switch from evening to night time life. No one seemed to stand out in the slightest. In fact, everything about this night felt normal. Still,  _ because  _ of that fact, something felt off about it, and Keith wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

 

_ “Why hasn’t he moved, yet?” _ Lance asked. _ “Are you sure you’re tracking him, Pidge?” _

 

_ “Of course I am,” _ Pidge snapped.  _ “There hasn’t been any movement at all, all day; you’re just being impatient.” _

 

“No, he’s right,” Keith murmured. “Something’s off.”

 

_ “I agree,” _ Kulai said.  _ “We usually find a body by now. Everyone stay vigilant.” _

 

_ “What she said,” _ Pidge concurred.  _ “He could strike at any- woah.” _

 

Keith perked up at the sudden change in Pidge’s tone. “Pidge?” 

 

_ “Ask and ye shall receive,” _ Pidge answered.  _ “We’ve got movement. Tracking now; standby.” _

 

Now on high alert, Keith scanned the crowd with sharpened eyes, ready to move at a moment’s command. Nothing seemed to change in the surrounding area, but his instincts were screaming at him to charge ahead and capture his prey. No one was dying tonight.

 

_ “What? No-” _

 

Now Keith’s senses were on alert for a new reason. “Pidge?”

 

_ “Guys, we got ourselves an evil genius and I hate him,” _ Pidge griped.

 

_ “What do you mean?” _ Lance asked.

 

_ “It's a genius that is evil; what part of that is hard to understand?” _

 

Even through the coms, Keith could tell. Pidge was so done.

 

_ “What is he- what? No! How is he doing this? No!” _

 

“Pidge!”

 

_ “My screens are going dark- there’s nothing but snow!” _ Pidge had never sounded so panicked and frustrated at the same time before. _ “He’s turned the whole system around on me; I’m losing my eyes on each of you one by one.” _

 

_ “So you can’t see us?” _ Lance asked.

 

_ “No, I can only see- and now Ashanti is gone too, damn it!” _

 

At this, Keith bolted from his station. Being alone without even Pidge’s eyes on his back while up against a killer was not his most favorite position in life. His eyes searched each person as he passed them, still seeing nothing out of place, and growing even more frustrated by it.

 

“Everyone pair up. We don’t have Pidge as back up anymore, so find the closest patrol and work together to find the Gardener.” Keith ran faster by the second. “Lance, you’re closest to me, find me at the laundry spot. Copy?”

 

_ “Kei-?” _

 

Keith skidded to a stop quite suddenly.

 

“Lance?”

 

_ “Ke-... ome in, I can’t-... eith? Th-... atic-” _

 

“Lance? Pidge- Pidge, come in. Kulai?”

 

Static filled Keith’s ears as he tried to contact each team member, and suddenly, he was more afraid of the Gardener than ever. Keith was all on his own now, no eyes, no ears, no protection whatsoever. That meant that the same could be said for the rest of his team, as well.

 

“ _ Lance _ !”

 

Again, Keith bolted, desperate to find Lance. Faster than any other person around him, Keith actually kicked up dust as he passed the night-life city goers. His lungs burned with effort and his body ached from the strain, but Keith pushed on. He had to find Lance.

 

The corner where Keith had helped the woman pick up her laundry came into sight, but Lance was nowhere to be found. Keith urged on, not even stopping on his way to Lance’s patrol. He ran down the alley that Lance had taken, completely beside himself at the thought of Lance being taken away from him. Alone, scared, taking on a murderer and dying all on his own because the universe had a hard on for watching Keith suffer. This couldn’t happen, Keith had to get there, he had to find Lance.

 

Suddenly, laser fire shot at Keith’s feet and stopped the man right in his tracks. Keith violently looked around, sword drawn and at the ready as he searched for his assailant, only to find Lance sitting high on an old fire escape. The people around Keith had all scattered at the sight of his sword, but at the moment, Keith couldn’t be bothered at how exposed he was right then. 

 

Lance had perched, of course he had. He was a sniper, after all. Lance was good. Lance was safe. Lance was  _ safe _ .

 

Relief swept through Keith with one hefty huff that dropped his shoulders a good three inches. While Keith tried to shove his heart down from his throat and back into his chest, Lance scampered down from his roost and rushed over to Keith’s side.

 

“Hey, is your com down too?” Lance asked as he ran up.

 

Keith nodded. “I lost everyone. We’re completely blind, now.”

 

“Not completely.” Lance was serious now, his scowl strong and prominent on his face as he pieced together what needed to be done next. “This area’s clean, we should check the others. We can still stick to the plan, we just won’t be as fast as before.”

 

“Right.” Keith nodded once, already turning to run. “ Let’s do this.”

 

“I got your back, samurai!” Lance said, the grin obvious in his voice.

 

And the race was on.

 

Lanterns burned bright to light the way through the city as Lance and Keith rushed to find a killer. The two paladins kept their eyes open for any discrepancies that wouldn’t match the city, but as they ran, nothing jumped out at them. No screaming, no dark figures, no one hiding in an alleyway- nothing.

 

“Keith!”

 

They stopped suddenly at the sound of a familiar voice and found Elian racing towards them, just as disheveled and anxious as they were themselves.

 

“Any sign of him?” Elian asked.

 

“No, nothing,” Keith answered, breathless and frustrated. “We’ve been checking each area but haven’t found anything yet; you?”

 

Elian shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.”

 

Lance had been scanning the crowds through all of this, the scowl still strong and growing the longer he searched. Finally, something clicked. “We should check the alleys. He’s not going to be out in the open like this; it’s too risky.”

 

At that, it clicked for Keith as well. He nodded and turned to Elian. “He’s right. Stick with us and keep an eye out until we find the others. Nobody stays on their own until we catch this guy.”

 

“Right.” Elian hitched his rifle back over his shoulder before it could slip further and easily fell into step behind Lance with Keith at the rear. With the marching order in place, the men left the crowded streets and entered the darker alleys. The trio stalked through the alleyways, eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary.

 

Turn after turn, Lance kept his guard up as he scoped out their route through his blaster. He scared off a few cats and some drifters with a surprise gun muzzle this way, but Keith wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was slow, but with Keith on the rear and Lance on point, the team managed to work their way safely through the back streets and alleyways like this. It was when Lance was evacuating another transient when Keith heard it.

 

Footsteps could be heard hitting the pavement, fast and headed his way, and instinct took over before Keith could even think to react. He turned just in time to avoid a knife straight through his chest, but the figure changed tactics just as quickly and slammed Keith into the stone wall behind him from a massive arm.

 

“Keith!”

 

Pain shot through Keith’s body with the impact, more so than usual thanks to the force from his assailant. His vision swam as he tried to make sense of things, but the air was knocked clean out of his lungs and something muffled was banging around in his ears. The massive figure ran off down the alleyway with Elian chasing after it, but Keith was left trying to catch his breath on the ground, and confused as to why Lance was yelling at him.

 

“What are you doing? It's him!” Keith screamed, still dizzy. “Go! Go after him!”

 

A different kind of pain covered Lance’s face, but he stood and ran after the Gardener as ordered. Keith watched Lance leave, not even looking back in his chase and leaving Keith on his own to try and put himself back together. He weazed as he tried to stand, already feeling a nasty bruise building up over his gut and chest, even with his armor to protect him.

 

It took extreme effort, but eventually Keith managed to get back on his feet. He stumbled through his first steps after Lance and Elian, but stopped short as his thoughts gathered and returned. Slowly, Keith turned around to face the alley from which the stranger had come from.

 

Darkness and shadow clung to the walls of the alley, but a light shone dimly at the end of it. Silently, Keith crept down the alley, senses on high alert regardless of the lack of threat. The alley itself wasn’t very long, but the trek to the other side of it lasted a lifetime. Keith kept his eyes open wide, ears alert for even the smallest of twitches, but nothing alerted him as he finally made it to the end of the alleyway, where he deflated completely.

 

“No…”

 

There, laid in a heap of her own limbs lay the Gardener’s latest victim. A young woman with dark skin and lifeless, brown eyes.

 

Static crackled in Keith’s ear and soon after, Pidge could be heard.

 

_ “-nybody? Hello? Is everyone alright?” _

 

“No,” Keith answered.

 

_ “Keith! There you are!” _ Despite his answer, Pidge sounded ecstatic to hear from Keith.  _ “Where are you? Is everything okay?” _

 

“No,” Keith repeated. “I found her.”

 

_ “Keith?” _ Lance sounded like he was running.  _ “Where are you? Who did you find?” _

 

Before he could respond, more footsteps could be heard behind him and Keith whipped around to face his attacker. Instead, Kulai ran up, slowing as she saw what Keith had found.

 

“Damn it,” she whispered, then threw her blaster to the ground in a fit of rage and kicked one of the many empty supply crates that had been abandoned in the alley. “Damn it!”

 

_ “Was that Kulai? What’s going on?!” _

 

“I’m supposed to  _ protect  _ these people!” Kulai shouted, completely ignoring Pidge over the radio.

 

Keith had nothing to say. He felt just as helpless. 

 

_ “If none of you mother fuckers are going to say anything, I’m going to hack into your helmets!” _

 

“Keith?”

 

The sound of Lance’s voice made him flinch, but Keith turned to answer the call anyways. “Down here.”

 

Soon enough, Lance could be seen jogging down the alleyway, blaster in hand and completely disheveled, leaving Elian and Deatrii several steps behind.

 

“Oh, thank God,” Lance sighed. “You weren’t where I left you.”

 

“No,” Keith mumbled. “He ran from here for a reason. I had to find out why.”

 

As Keith spoke, Lance’s eyes latched onto the form laying behind Keith, and the relief turned to despair. The feeling tripled when a new voice entered the fray.

 

“Ashanti?”

 

“Oh, no…” All of the color drained from Lance’s face at the small voice behind him. Slowly, Lance turned to find Elian, standing dumbstruck.

 

“That’s… that’s not-” Elian shook his head. “No, no it’s not- I promised mom I’d-” Elian couldn’t finish. His words failed him as a sob broke out, and he stepped forward to drop to his knees at her side. “This can’t be happening, Ashanti, please...”

 

Lance had to turn away as Elian cradled his sister’s head against his own, but Keith couldn’t take his eyes off the pair. The burn of the sight built up and nearly suffocated Keith. This. This was what happened when he failed. This feeling was what he feared most. This feeling haunted his nightmares, and now, thanks to the Gardener, so would the sound of Elian’s sobbing as it echoed off of the stone walls.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry send your kleenex complaints to my inbox and we can have the feels together.
> 
> Also, did you find my hidden clue?
> 
>  
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love talking with you guys.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more depth on Dream Walks- learned the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real warnings this go around. Now I'm just kinda posting for postings sake because I actually finished writing this story and have been debating and had a lot on my mind. More to come after thoughts have cleared.

  
  


**Chapter 8**

  
  


_ Post mission _

_ \--- _

  
  


The sound of Keith's boots on the floor echoed harshly against the walls, alerting Lance of his arrival even before Keith burst through his door.

 

“You're going through with it?” Keith hissed.

 

Lance turned a flat expression to Keith. “Hello to you too.”

 

“Don't mess around with me, Lance,” Keith said. “I thought we agreed that you would wait for Kulai to walk your dreams.”

 

“No,” Lance drew out the word before continuing. “You agreed that you didn't want me to do it, I agreed that I was ready, and we both agreed that I ‘just didn't get it.’” The quotation marks he used on his fingers dropped as Lance crossed his arms over his chest. “My memory is coming back in pieces and this will help it along faster. I'm doing this.”

 

“No, you're  _ not _ !”

 

Both men froze at the sudden ferocity that came out of Keith, but while Keith himself had been unsettled by it, Lance took it as a challenge. 

 

“Oh, really?” Lance's tone was quiet, but certainly not one to be taken lightly. “What, are you my father now? Or are you ready to admit that you're a controlling bastard who can't stand a free-spirited boyfriend?”

 

“What- how am I controlling you?” Keith shouted. “What the hell are you talking about?” 

 

“‘Lance, keep your mouth shut,’ ‘Lance, behave yourself, someone might see,’ ‘Lance, do as I say and you just might make it out of here alive-’ oh, that one was my favorite.” The outright malice in Lance radiated off of him like a heat wave. “You can't stand it when someone doesn't listen to you, can you? Especially when it’s the team embarrassment!”

 

“Embarrass- what?” Keith shook his head. “None of that has anything to do with this,” he insisted. “Kulai’s ability knocked me off my feet fully functional. You're still recovering from a fucking coma; what's that going to do to you?”

 

“And here we are again, pretending to care about Lance,” Lance sighed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. 

 

Keith gaped at him. “What do you mean ‘pretending?’”

 

“I mean if you actually cared about me then you wouldn't try to hide me all the time.” Lance crossed his arms again.

 

That did it. Keith’s last bit of restraint was gone, and he finally snapped.

 

“How the hell could I hide a loud mouth like you?” Keith scoffed, completely tired of hearing the same complaints over and over again.

 

Lance’s face grew red with anger and he sputtered in bed for a few seconds. “You're being a- I just- you- damn it, I can’t English right now,” Lance said. “What’s the Spanish translation for ‘You're being really stupid right now and I really want to bash your stupid face in’?”

 

“I think that about covers it,” Keith snarled back. “Though, we usually tend to just say ‘Lance’ in a certain tone and that seems to convey it just fine.”

 

“See? That's exactly what I mean, I'm just a joke to you!” Lance shouted. “It would be one thing if you weren't ready to come out- hell, I haven't even come out! I’ve been dying to talk to my mom about this because I'm ready and willing, but you're too embarrassed by me to even hint at a relationship to anyone else!”

 

Keith growled into his hands. “I told you, you don't-”

 

“Yeah, I don't get it.”

 

“No, that's not-”

 

“Face it, Keith! I'm not going to take your shit anymore!”

 

“Shut up! Shut up, shut _ up, shut! Up! _ ”

 

Lance pulled back at Keith's outburst, watching as he tangled his hands into his hair and began pacing the room. Keith's breathing was erratic and his eyes were wild. The last time Lance had ever seen Keith like this was with Shiro. It was proof that this argument alone was enough to shove Keith over the edge.

 

Several minutes passed as Keith paced, stopping every few seconds to try and yell more of his frustrations at Lance, but unable to do so. Words and anger and memories of situations gone by swirled around in his head like a violent tornado, blinding Keith from what he needed or even wanted to do. Lance waited for him, ready for a fight, ready to spit back just as good as he got- until Keith stopped. He stopped… and looked to Lance with tears threatening to stream down his face.

 

Now Lance was frozen for a completely new reason. Anger and frustration were all things Lance knew how to handle when dealing with Keith. Tears? A man on the brink of breaking- Keith of all people, breaking? Never. That was something way too new and Lance was stuck. He didn't know what to do. Then it got even more confusing.

 

“Please,” Keith actually whimpered. “I can't.”

 

Lance swallowed, legitimately scared to ask. “Can't what?”

 

Keith shook his head and hung it low, his shoulders dropped in defeat. “I lost my mom… I lost my dad… I even lost Shiro.” Keith lifted his head to Lance, tears shimmering anew. “I can't lose you too.”

 

The sight of Keith's unshed tears now shattered Lance's heart and he had to look away. “Yeah, but you got them back.”

 

“Not like before,” Keith whispered. “It'll never be the same with them.”

 

Lance wrinkled his nose to the floor. He could finally start to piece together what it was that had Keith so mixed up about their relationship, but it still didn't make sense to him. Keith was a private person, obviously, everyone knew that about him… but everyone also knew how open and involved Lance was, and Keith was no acception. 

 

“Well,” Lance started. “It's not going to be the same with me either.”

 

Keith whipped his head up to catch eyes with Lance, his voice barely a breath. “What?”

 

The stern look never left Lance's face, despite his discomfort. “I can't keep doing this, Keith. I can’t keep lying, I can’t keep avoiding my family- I can't live in hiding because you're afraid of the unknown.”

 

It was impossible for Keith to speak above a whisper with how much his throat felt like closing up. “What are you saying?”

 

“I'm saying…” Lance closed his eyes, not wanting to continue but finding his resolve with a deep breath and turning his attention back to Keith. “I'm saying you're going to lose me regardless unless you figure something out.”

 

All of the air left Keith's lungs in that moment. He swallowed hard, trying to understand Lance's words but unable to think straight with how fast his heart was beating. Even if he were thinking straight, Keith realized that he still wouldn't have an answer for Lance, and shook his head.

 

“I don't know how to do that,” Keith whispered. 

 

“You don't-” Lance looked like he was choking on his words, anger throbbing through his veins as he nearly screamed in frustration. “How about letting me introduce you to my parents? Sunday dinners? Awkward double dates with my brother and his wife?”

 

The sheer volume of Lance's rage roared louder and louder with each word, and it wasn't until then that either of them realized just how much this had meant to Lance. 

 

“I just got my family back in my life, Keith, and I can't share with them the best thing that's happened to me since I left!” Lance shouted, nearing tears himself. “They mean everything to me, I share everything with them but I can't share this and it  _ kills  _ me!”

 

“Why is that so important to you?” Keith asked, eyes wide with shock and confusion. “I don't understand why we can't just keep things the way they are?”

 

“Keith, I don't understand why you can't just admit that we might actually be in lo-”

 

“What are you doing? Don't say that out loud!”

 

Lance pulled back as Keith bolted forward, eyes wide. Keith stood in an actual panic; a real, authentic panic that had rarely ever been seen outside of battle. The longer Lance studied Keith frozen in fear before him, the more he seemed to understand. And then it clicked.

 

“You…” Lance stopped to lick his lip in thought, still eyeing Keith. “... You really think the universe is out to get you.”

 

A humorless laugh fell from Keith with little effort behind it, and even without speaking, he had already given his answer to Lance.

 

“It's been consistent enough so far,” he muttered. 

 

The fire had gone out in Keith and it was clear to Lance that he was losing all effort to argue further with every passing second. This was new for Lance. It was unexpected, especially from Keith. This… this was frightening.

 

“Keith, why would you think that?” Lance was absolutely perplexed. “I mean, before Voltron, we were just a bunch of kids looking at the stars- nobodies.”

 

“Come on, Lance.” Keith’s eyes stared lifelessly out the window, accepting his fate. “We're paladins of Voltron. The universe picked us for a reason. There have been targets on our backs since before we were ever even born... We were never nobodies.”

 

Lance noticed that his breath was beginning to come a little too quickly and he forced himself to take a breath and slow down. This was not the man that had lead Lance into battle, and it certainly wasn't the man that Lance had trusted his life with. Before he could respond, though, Keith broke through his thoughts.

 

“I can't stop you, can I?”

 

Keith's voice was flat, his shoulders slumped and his eyes searched through the window with a hopelessness that Lance would never wish on his worst enemies. Lance knew that Keith knew his answer and had accepted it, regardless of how much it hurt deep inside Keith's chest. He couldn't abide by the torn feeling in his own chest, now considering the option of canceling Kulai’s walk, but the feeling of uselessness and betrayal towards the Straluu twins won over Lance's emotions. Still. Keith was scared. Honest to God scared and he actually showed it to Lance in its purest form. Lance couldn't fault him for that, nor for needing some reassurance. 

 

“You know what my Grampa used to say to me when I was little?” Lance asked, but Keith never moved. “He told me ‘love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them not to.’” Lance's gaze hardened but his voice stayed soft. “I know that I can do this… so I need you to trust me if we're going to make this work.”

 

It was so quiet that Lance nearly missed it, but Keith scoffed to himself and closed his eyes. “You're not the one I'm worried about.”

 

Again, Lance frowned and stared at his boyfriend, studying the broken form before him and deciding to speak his mind despite knowing how it would hurt Keith.

 

“... Maybe you should be.”

  
  


\---

 

_ Pre-mission _

  
  


“Wait, you saw him?” Kulai asked.

 

Lance nodded, eyes still cast low to the ground and wincing as the sound of Elian’s sniffling made its way to his ears. “Yeah. Keith got the best look out of all of us. Gardener ran him into the wall; Elian and I didn’t see much after that. We lost sight of him shortly after we started chasing him.”

 

“But you saw him?” Kulai asked again, strangely urgent.

 

Keith took a step back and gripped his helmet closer to his hip, not liking how tight their small circle had suddenly become. “Yeah, but-”

 

Before anyone could blink, Kulai’s hand struck like a viper over Keith’s eyes. Instantly, images of an attacker came rushing through Keith’s mind. Flashes of the attack, the feeling of being crushed, a figure, dark, large, strong- can’t see his face, it’s not a face, a mask? Shadow, dark, can’t see his face, not a face, hooded, so dark, so big, ruffling fabric- _ GET OUT! _

 

Keith gasped and his legs fell out from under him as a deafening ring resounded through his skull. His helmet clattered to the ground and his fingers clutched onto his head desperately, just barely managing to stumble into Lance’s outstretched arms before he could fall completely. The three-pronged shape of Kulai’s hand was still held up from where it had taken root over Keith’s forehead and temples, and she seemed to be alarmed at herself by the way she backed away from him. It didn’t help that Lance was yelling at her while he dragged Keith off to a nearby wall, and it certainly didn’t help Keith’s head either.

 

Without even thinking, Keith’s hand left his head and slipped up, his fingers lightly covering Lance’s lips. He couldn’t speak yet, it still hurt, but Keith could feel groans coming from his throat in an attempt to convey what he was asking. Thankfully, Lance seemed to understand, and he lowered his volume as he carefully lowered the two of them to the ground with the help of the wall at his back.

 

“What the hell?” Lance hissed, gently pulling Keith’s hand away from his mouth. “He just had a run in with the Gardener and you take this chance to kick him while he’s down? I thought you were on our side!”

 

“I am,” Kulai said, thankfully quiet for Keith’s consideration. “I just- I needed to see his memories of the Gardener’s attack.” She quieted further when Keith was finally able to lift his head and glare at her. “I realize that I became too overzealous. I should have asked, first. I apologize.”

 

The ringing that rattled around in his skull finally began to die down, allowing Keith to actually hear Kulai’s apology. He wobbled a bit, still leaning heavily against Lance but Keith lessened the heat from his scowl and nodded, turning his eyes to the ground and closing them if only to keep some of the light out. Lance frowned at this, but if Keith had accepted the apology, there wasn’t much that he could do about it. Except, maybe find out more.

 

“What do you mean you needed to see his memories?” Lance asked. “Does this have to do with that dream walking business Deatrii was telling me about?” 

 

“That’s exactly it.” Deatrii was already walking up to the group, leaving his position as comforter to Elian in order to settle whatever mishap had happened.

 

As Deatrii drew near, Keith started to move again, causing Lance to return his full attention to Keith. Lance looked like he wanted to keep holding Keith up, but Keith pulled away to sit on his own. He was still unsteady, and a new headache was definitely brewing behind his eyes, but at least Keith was able to open his eyes and sit up straight.

 

“Kulai is one of the few of our kind who can see into the mind.” Deatrii tilted his head down, looking a little peeved. “Although, it’s rather inconsiderate to view them without consent.”

 

The venom from Deatrii’s voice was startling, easily causing Kulai to flinch from it. It was obvious that Deatrii was angry with his sister, even without a face to show it. Kulai’s reaction to it was just as open, showing just how ashamed of herself she truly felt.

 

“Take Elian home,” Deatrii ordered. “We’ll study the crime scene.”

 

Kulai nodded without a word and stepped away to do as she was told. Once she was gone, Deatrii turned to Keith.

 

“Are you alright?” he asked.

 

Keith nodded, but found that he was still unable to stand.

 

“Take a few minutes to compose yourself. Rooting through one's mind without permission can have serious repercussions.” Deatrii paused a moment, seeming to study Keith. “Did it work, at least?”

 

“... I don't know,” Keith said, his voice low and gravely, still too painful to speak louder than a mumble. He shrugged, frowning to the ground to try and think properly. “I'm really not sure. If anything, I'm more confused now than I was before. I didn't really get a good look at the guy.”

 

“That's quite alright,” Deatrii said softly, then he turned to head towards Ashanti’s body. “Take care of him. I'll get started over here.”

 

It took a moment for his words to make sense, but then Keith realized that they were meant for Lance instead of himself. He looked to his partner a little too quickly and made himself woozy from the movement, clearly making Lance more concerned for his well being. Without a word, Lance crawled up onto his knees and stretched over for Keith's helmet, handing it back to its rightful owner with worry etched all over his face.

 

“Put this on and turn on the shades,” Lance said quietly. “You may want to turn the volume down too. Pidge is upset.”

 

Pidge had been watching them the entire time. When no one answered her through the coms, she went through with her threat and hacked into Lance's helmet to see through his visor- just in time to watch Elian find his sister.

 

For once, Keith took Lance's advice without a single complaint. Once he slipped his helmet back on and his visor was blissfully blocking out the lamplight, Keith activated his com.

 

“Pidge? You there?” he asked.

 

Silence. At first, Keith thought something may have malfunctioned again, but when he checked, he found nothing.

 

“Pidge?”

 

_ “He was right there.” _

 

Keith was shocked at the lifelessness in her voice, so flat yet full of anger and despair at the same time.

 

“Pidge-”

 

“ _ He was right there, Keith _ .” Pidge sniffed but continued on. “ _ He was right there, I had him and I could have stopped him.” _

 

“We were there too-”

 

“ _ But I had him!” _ It sounded like Pidge slammed a fist on the table. For a while, all that could be heard was Pidge regulating her breathing and trying to regain control. When she spoke again, her voice held very little strength at all. “ _ I had him and then he still got Ashanti. All because I screwed up _ .”

 

“Pidge, that's not-”

 

“ _ She was my age _ ,” Pidge went on, ignoring any comforts from either of her teammates. “ _ That could have been me, we could have grown up together. Now she’ll never get the chance because I got cocky.” _

 

A weighted silence filled the comms as the words fell heavily over them. Keith and Lance shared a pained look, one that spoke volumes as the sound of Pidge sniffling again ruined the silence.

 

“... We all did.” Lance shocked them both with his honest answer, but neither of them fought it. “All of us slacked off tonight because we got too comfortable. We didn’t plan for a counter attack and we got lazy. So now we make up for underestimating our opponent by going full force.”

 

Even through the shaded visor, Keith held eyes with Lance. No words were said, but a small, determined smile spread over their faces in a shared agreement. Keith lifted a hand and Lance silently grasped it with a nod, both still locked onto the other.

 

_ “Alright,”  _ Pidge’s voice came through strong.  _ “I think I can live with that.” _

 

The smile grew over Keith’s face, eyes still locked with Lance’s.

 

“I think we all can.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the bonding moment? Switch it around so that Lance is cradling Keith and that's the end scene there.
> 
> I finished writing this sucker a few weeks ago but between the holidays, doctor appointments and Critical Role (it's addicting and dangerous), I hadn't found the time to sit down and deal with my writerly duties and such. My bad. So, I'm posting multiple chapters tonight. Maybe all of them. IDK. I kinda wanted to finish a fluff fic before I posted all of Lost in Thought just because this one is kinda dark and Lord knows I need something fluffy after I've finished watching/reading/experiencing something shady AF. There are a few other factors that are bothering me as well, but I don't want to type them all out because reasons. So, yeah. We'll see where it goes.
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love hearing from you guys and wanna share conspiracy theories about who the killer is.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a walk down memory lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is a pretty violent panic attack while he's in the walk. Screaming, choking, kicking, the works.
> 
> Yeah, I'm just gonna post all the chapters because I've got too many other projects going on right now to have to worry about posting to a schedule. Enjoy.

  
  
  
  


**Chapter 9**

  
  


_ Pre-mission _

\---

 

It was unfortunate, the amount of projects that Voltron were responsible for. Shiro, Allura and Coran were all specialists in fields that no one else could muster there on Earth, and with the need to restore Earth as quickly as possible, it was vital to keep them with their respective jobs for the time being. That being said, when Keith asked for help with the Gardener case, the MFE team gladly accepted in their stead. They were ready this time.

 

The new plan would be partners. Ashanti’s death made it clear that civilian help would only hinder their search, and despite the number of volunteers drastically rising from outrage at her murder, neither the twins nor the team wanted to risk any more casualties. So, each officer was paired with a partner to watch the other’s back. 

 

For the entire week, Keith and the others informed the MFE officers of every bit of information they could on the Gardener. They slaved over tactics and techniques, making sure that nothing would be left to chance. By the time they had spread out over the city, each member knew exactly what to do. They were ready… but something was nagging at the back of Lance’s mind.

 

Lance sat perched on a rooftop, not more than fifteen feet off the ground, but high enough to keep an eye on the citizens below. He could see Deatrii directly beneath him, milling about the crowds on guard himself in search of the Gardener. Everyone was on high alert, not wanting to make the same mistake as the week before, but the more he thought about it, the more unsettled Lance became. Discreetly, Lance opened up a new, private com.

 

“Keith, Pidge, can you hear me?” Lance whispered. “Don’t let the others know I’m talking to you.”

 

_ “I copy,” _ Pidge said.

 

_ “See something?” _ Keith asked, just as muted as Lance.

 

“I was just thinking,” Lance muttered. “The Gardener has to be stupid smart if he can outwit Pidge in a matter of seconds.”

 

_ “Gee, thanks for the reminder,” _ Pidge grumbled.

 

“No, that’s what I’m saying,” Lance insisted. “No one could break your code that fast. They either must have had time to work on it and known beforehand, or…”

 

_ “Or maybe he knew the system already,” _ Keith finished.

 

_ “Impossible,”  _ Pidge said.  _ “He'd have to be one of us.” _

 

“Doesn't rule it out.” Lance’s voice was flat as he watched Deatrii shuffle on the ground beneath him. “Best way for him to get into your system is with one of our systems, right?”

 

It was almost possible to hear the gears turning in Pidge’s mind, but she didn’t want to believe what she was hearing.  _ “... What are you saying, Lance?” _

 

“I’ve been thinking about this all week,” Lance admitted with a sigh. “Ashanti’s communicator was taken off without a struggle. We already know he likes watching his victims… maybe he likes tricking them too.”

 

_ “You think the Gardener tricked Ashanti to get to us?”  _ Keith sounded incredulous. _ “How would he do that?” _

 

Beneath him, Deatrii stood still, eyes locked onto something that Lance could not follow. Something somewhere along the opening of the flood tunnels had caught Deatrii’s attention, so Lance searched the rest of their area to cover the slack.

 

“I think the Gardener used Ashanti’s communicator to scramble everyone else’s signal and give him time to kill her,” Lance said, still eyeing the people below him. “Ashanti’s communicator was taken before she was killed, otherwise we would have heard her struggling. Somehow, the Gardener convinced her to take it off without raising any red flags. I think she knew him.”

 

_ “Lance…”  _ Now Keith’s voice was disbelieving for a whole new reason.  _ “Are you really saying that the killer could be one of us?” _

 

Lance flicked his eyes back down to Deatrii, who was still watching the tunnels like a hawk. Then, Lance took a deep breath and committed to his answer. “... I don’t think Elian could have killed his own sister.”

 

The silence held between the trio was dense. Not one of the three could believe something so outlandish, but at the same time, they couldn’t rule out the possibility.

 

_ “... I’ll start background checks on the twins,” _ Pidge finally muttered.

 

“Lance!” 

 

Lance jolted back to his station, seeing Deatrii already running towards the flood tunnels. Immediately, Lance jumped up to chase after Deatrii as well.

 

“There! Someone with a hostage!” Deatrii shouted as he ran. “I think it’s him! He’s going through the regulation tunnels- hurry!”

 

“Deatrii, wait up, it’s dangerous!” Lance called, then switched over to the public com link. “We have a visual; pursuing on foot. All teams to the flood control tunnels.”

  
  
  


_ Post mission _

_ \--- _

 

Lance was actually a little bit relieved when his sister couldn’t make it. Veronica had a meeting that she absolutely could not miss, so she sent Rizavi in her place to film Lance’s walk with Kulai. Of course, that left them with the awkward realization that Rizavi would be watching Lance in his sleep, but it was better than having his sister relive what had happened in case something went wrong.

 

No, it couldn’t go wrong, it would work. Lance could do this, he knew he could, but Keith’s paranoia could be contagious sometimes. Especially when he stood brooding in the corner, watching with his usual scowl and not saying a word.

 

“I’m going to guide you the entire way,” Kulai explained. “You'll need to be relaxed or else it won't work.”

 

“Relaxed, huh?” Lance chuckled and pointed his thumbs to himself. “I can totally do that. King of Chillsville, this guy.”

 

“Lance.”

 

At the sound of Keith's scolding, Lance cleared his throat and laid back down in bed, nodding to Kulai. “I'm ready.”

 

Kulai nodded as well and gently laid her hands over Lance's temples. “Take a deep breath… hold it…”

 

Lance followed the instructions as Kulai guided him through a specific breathing process. His eyes remained closed the entire time, concentrating on the next technique that Kulai had for him. Each breath came slower than the last, longer, deeper. This went on for several minutes, until one last breath escaped from Lance particularly slowly.

 

Any tension in Lance’s body, however miniscule, simply vanished with that last breath. Rizavi watched through the camera lens with a bit of tension of her own, but Keith was a whole different story. When Lance fell silent, Keith went on high alert, tense from watching Lance so fiercely and growing physically ill as Lance’s chest slowed so sharply that it barely moved at all. His eyes bore into the scene before him for any sort of evidence of life, but Keith held back, not daring to interfere. 

 

“Lance,” Kulai asked, voice soft. “Tell me where you are. What are you doing?”

 

He was quiet at first, but after a thought, Lance answered with a wispy voice, barely above a whisper. “I'm floating… Where am I?”

 

“You're safe,” Kulai told him. “Concentrate for me. It's the night of the attack. You know where you are, and you know that you're safe. Tell me about it. What do you see?”

 

Again, Lance took his time to answer, seeming to consider everything around him. “I see people… I'm in the square with my scope. Up high so I can see.”

 

“That's where you and Deatrii were stationed, correct?” Kulai asked, earning a slow nod. “Good, very good, Lance. Now, watch for me. Deatrii is running and you go to follow. What happens next?”

 

“I…” Lance shifted in the bed. “I'm right behind him, but he's fast. I lost him a few times in the tunnels but he’s right ahead of me. We split up in a new room to find the Gardener… It's hard to see.”

 

“That’s alright,” Kulai comforted. “You may not be able to see well, but your instincts are telling you something. Focus on them, Lance.”

 

Lance’s brow furrowed in concentration and this time the wait was longer than any of the other times before. He focused hard on the question, lost in the memory he was trying to share. Slowly, his fingers curled into the blankets at his sides and his chest deepened with heavier, deliberate breaths.

 

“It’s not right,” Lance finally whispered.

 

“What’s not right?” Kulai asked, having to follow Lance as he shook his head.

 

“It’s too quiet.” Lance’s breaths came out shallow, as though he were trying to be quiet himself. “I don’t like it here; I want to leave.”

 

“We can’t leave yet, Lance,” Kulai told him. “You wanted to find the Gardener, remember? You can do this, I’m right here with you.”

 

Weakly, Lance nodded agreement, his voice equally weak and breathy. “Yeah… Yeah, I remember.”

 

Keith frowned at this, not liking that Lance was trapped in the situation but not able to say anything on Lance’s behalf. Silence was necessary in order for the illusion to work. If either Keith or Rizavi were to interfere, Lance could lose the memory all together, or even worse, be lost himself. So Keith kept quiet and watched on when Lance tilted his head slightly, as if hearing something.

 

“I hear something,” Lance confirmed. He turned his head a bit more but out of nowhere, Lance jolted into the bed with a loud grunt. “I’m hit! Right into the water- I can't breathe-”

 

“Easy, Lance, I'm here. Help is here, you can breathe-” Kulai tried to sooth him but Lance shook his head and interrupted her. 

 

“No, it was ripped off, my helmet’s gone, I can’t call for hel-” Lance was cut off with a loud howl of pain and his body arched off of the bed. “My- my leg! I can’t get away- can’t move- no respirar-”

 

“Lance- Lance, listen to me-” Kulai tried to regain Lance’s senses, but he was too panicked to hear her.

 

“Ayudame!” Lance rasped. “Ayud- por favor!  Él me va a matar, voy a morir- no puedo moverme- no puedo- no le he dicho a Keith todavía! No- no puedo morir, no puedo! No puedo respirar!"

 

The sight of Lance thrashing helplessly in bed sent Keith into a panic of his own, but with the threat of hurting Lance further, Keith forced himself to stay away. Kulai wrestled to stay with Lance as he flailed about the bed, but once memory of the Gardener taking hold of Lance took over, he remained in the same place with only his spare leg trying to free him with desperate kicks. His breathing was choppy and painful to listen to as his hands clawed at his neck, trying to release himself from a captor that was no longer there. Suddenly, he threw his left hand out to the side in a violent search for something.

 

“No- Keith! Quiero Keith!” Lance cried, releasing Keith of his binds to the sidelines.

 

Keith bolted from his place in the corner and latched onto the hand still scraping at Lance’s throat, careful not to say anything. Lance’s free hand scrambled over the bedside table with his abandoned hospital lunch and snached up a fruit cup. Before Keith could even try to stop him, Lance shot up from the bed with a horrendous scream and smashed the fruit cup into Keith’s neck, the cup exploding on impact and ripping a grunt of pain from Keith. Lance sat frozen, he and Keith staring wide-eyed at the other while Kulai tightened her grip over Lance’s skull.

 

“... Quiero Keith,” Lance muttered. Then, all of the strength in Lance’s body gave out and he fell right back into bed, eyes still wide and unseeing.

 

“Lance!” Kulai sounded panicked. “Lance, listen to me! Follow my voice- Lance!”

 

If Lance heard Kulai, he made no acknowledgement of her existence. Instead, he stared at the ceiling for a good handful of seconds before his eyes slowly began to close.

 

“No!” Kulai shouted. “No, no, no, no- Lance, come back! Come back! Lance!”

 

Lance’s eyes sealed shut and silence filled the room. The state of shock on Kulai was tangible as she looked up to Keith who was still holding onto Lance’s hand.

 

“I lost him,” Kulai said, barely any strength to her voice.

 

Keith’s heart stopped. “What do you mean? What happened? Where is he?”

 

Kulai shook her head, apologizing to Keith as his voice grew louder and angrier with every word. Desperate, Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s shoulders and began shaking hard, nearly screaming Lance’s name in his face, but Lance never responded.

 

An icy numbness took over Keith then, filling him entirely with pure, unadulterated horror. Lance lay limply in his arms, seemingly content in his sleep, but Keith had never felt more nauseous in his life.

 

In the span of a second, the door slammed open and a panicked Pidge burst into the room, panting with effort before throwing an accusing finger at Kulai.

 

“Stop! Get off of him!” Pidge cried. “Don’t let her touch Lance!”

 

“Pidge?” Keith looked to her in confusion, but Pidge wouldn’t be swayed from her anger.

 

“It’s her! She's the Gardener!”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about the walk for weeks before I wrote it out and it turned out to be a lot shorter than I thought it would be. In fact, a lot of the scenes I had thought a lot about ended up being shorter than I expected. Not complaining.
> 
>  
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love talking with you guys. Kinda bummed nobody had any conspiracy theories to share, NGL.


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to piece the evidence together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Description of Lance not breathing and finding him after the attack. Please take care of yourself, I'd be happy to tell you what happened in less detail if you're uncomfortable.

  
  
  
  


**Chapter 10**

  
  


_ The mission _

_ \--- _

  
  


_ “He’s got’em. Move!” _

 

Keith bolted from his post but Kulai was much faster. The tunnels were a maze that one could easily have gotten lost in if they didn’t have help, and thankfully, Keith did. They ran in the dark, each twist and turn more confusing than the last, but Keith had to get to Lance, he had to find him, had to stop whatever it was the Gardener had planned. 

 

As they ran, Keith continued to call out to Lance and Pidge in hopes of contacting the paladin, but no answers could be found- so Keith ran faster. His lungs burned, his body ached, but still, Keith ran on as fast as his body would allow, and pushed himself to move even faster. He would not lose Lance this night.

 

Kulai was a good forty feet ahead of him despite how fast Keith usually was. He hated how slow his human legs carried him when he needed to hurry in moments such as these, but he counted on Kulai to scout out the tunnels ahead of them for any dangers. When she finally turned into the tunnel leading to section one, Lance’s section, Kulai let out an Earth shattering wail. For all of a second, Keith’s world stopped until he reminded his body that he had to hurry, had to get to Lance, had to help him, save him, protect him-

 

Keith reached the tunnel and burst through to a large room with a generator up against the wall and a long, shallow pit. Kulai was already in the pit holding her brother’s lifeless body, dark, navy blood spread over the both of them and all over again, Keith froze. Desperately, he searched the room for Lance, spotting a bit of familiar blue floating in the shallow waters of the pit. 

 

“Lance!”

 

There was no thought, only action as Keith raced forward and jumped into the pit. When he pulled Lance out of the water, the Cuban man was limp in his grasp and far too pale for Keith’s liking. Keith shook Lance a bit violently, slapping his cheeks and bellowing in his face.

 

“Come on, Lance,” Keith begged, parallel memories beginning to flood his mind. “Wake up!”

 

Lance’s body remained slack, absolutely no strength in it whatsoever. Even beneath the armor, Lance's chest remained stationary in Keith's hold, no visible or physical efforts of replenishing the required air. Fresh drops of crimson blood dripped from his lip and a small cut on his cheek just below a blackened eye, and bruises were already forming over his neck where Lance had been attacked. There was no sign of life, nor were there any reactions to Keith’s attempts, no matter how distraught he became.

 

“Over here!”

 

Keith turned to find Veronica kneeling at the edge of the pit with her hand outstretched for her brother.

 

“Hurry!” Veronica demanded.

 

It didn’t matter how fast Keith lugged Lance out of the water, it wasn’t fast enough for either himself or Veronica. As soon as he was close enough, Keith handed Lance to Veronica and together, they laid him flat on his back on the concrete above, leaving his calves to dangle in the pit. One leg in particular dangled a bit more than usual and in an awkward angle that left a sick twist in Keith’s gut.

 

Veronica ripped off Lance’s chest plate and threw it off to the side, then immediately forced all of her strength into Lance’s chest. Keith crawled out of the pit in a hurry, eyes wide and horrified as he watched Veronica use CPR on her brother. His body stayed still save for the shoves to his chest, and his face remained laxed, almost as if he were asleep.

 

_ Not again; please not again. _

 

A growing pit formed in Keith’s stomach the longer he watched, his mind turning Lance’s form into that of his father, not responding to any of the efforts that the doctors and nurses tried so desperately on him before the memory flashed back to real time, and Lance lay under his sister’s hands. One by one, each team entered the room and instantly began searching for the elusive killer responsible for this, responsible for Deatrii’s murder- oh God, Deatrii was murdered-

 

Keith curled over and clenched at his stomach, close to being sick at the thought. Deatrii was dead, and Lance was not too far behind… No. No, this couldn’t happen, Lance couldn’t die, not like this. Yet still, Keith watched with growing despair as Veronica begged Lance to come back and pushed more compressions into Lance’s stagnant chest with no reaction.

 

“Lance?” Hunk stood off to the side, just as frozen and shocked as Keith, and his voice came out just as meekly as they both felt. “Come on, buddy. Don’t do this.”

 

Lance never responded. His body remained lax aside from Veronica’s ministrations. No life. No sound. Only silence. Then-

 

Keith’s heart soared at the sight of Lance spitting up mouthfuls of water, his chest finally heaving to work some air into his lungs, and a resounding sigh of relief was shared throughout the three officers surrounding him.

 

“Oh, thank God,” Veronica panted as she rolled her brother onto his side. “Breathe. Breathe, little brother, come on.”

 

The convulsions from Lance’s coughing looked painful, but in that moment, Keith couldn’t be bothered to care. Lance was alive and breathing, he could endure a few rough coughs for the moment.

 

“De-Dea-trii-” Lance struggled to get the name out through his gasps. Everyone knew what he was asking, yet none of them had the heart to tell him just yet.

 

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Keith tried. “Just breathe.”

 

Lance shook his head, still trying to speak Deatrii’s name even as his eyes rolled back into his head.

 

“No- wait- Lance!” Keith jumped forward to grab hold of Lance, but the Cuban man didn’t listen to Keith’s plees. “No, no, no, stay awake- Lance!”

 

\---

 

_ Post mission _

  
  


The screen paused before more of the recording from Keith's helmet could play out the last of Lance's rescue and Iverson sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. Keith swallowed hard but made no other noticeable reaction as he glared down into his lap, unable to look at the screen.

 

As expected, Kulai denied any association with the Gardener. With Lance being the only eye witness, it didn’t help Kulai’s case that he was in another coma, or that she was the one who had put him in one. Now, with Kulai in custody, it was up to the members involved to go over every bit of evidence before her trial in order to prove her guilty, including the recordings from each member's helmets from that night.

 

“I don't like it,” Allura said. “How could she kill her brother and attack Lance in so short a time. Moreover, why?” Allura held a hand up to present the picture of the Straluu twins standing side by side. “He was all she had, why would she kill him?”

 

“To cover herself,” Pidge grunted. “She didn't want to get caught, so she made herself a victim by using her brother as collateral damage. As for Lance, she ran out of time before she could actually kill him. It's the only reason he survived.”

 

Keith scoffed at that. How could wasting away in a bed be called survival? Especially for a man like Lance.

 

After the failed walk, Keith had demanded that Kulai return Lance on the spot, but every ear who heard him denied the request from fear of her abilities. Who knew what would happen if she tried again. So, Lance lay lifeless in bed once again, trapped in his own mind until someone could release him.

 

Keith ignored the stares he earned from his little huff, but Shiro couldn't keep his eyes off of him. Pidge, on the other hand, continued on as though nothing had happened.

 

“You may not like it, but it all adds up,” Pidge said, anger clear in her voice. “Kulai was the first to find Ashanti after Keith, and Ashanti would have trusted her enough to take off her com unit so that Kulai could put the virus in it. She knew the camera systems and even admitted to using them.” 

 

Pidge waved a hand to Keith. “Her dream walking abilities could have easily manipulated Keith’s testimony after running into the killer so that he never remembered her face, and she could have easily used the same techniques to put Lance in a coma. Not to mention her background check came back empty because the twins came to Earth before the registration system was set up properly.”

 

Iverson sat forward in his seat, holding a hand up to pause Pidge in the middle of her rant.

 

“You have a strong case, Cadet, and I do believe you’re right, but it's all circumstantial evidence at this point. No judge will convict her without solid proof, no matter how convincing you may be,” Iverson said with a shrug, making Pidge’s scowl deepen further and look to the people surrounding the table.

 

“When you all went out for the third raid, you came back empty because the Gardener hasn't struck since Lance and Deatrii were attacked. And who was it who found them first?” Pidge shook her head slowly. “Face it. Kulai is the Gardener.”

 

It was true. After Lance had been attacked, the rest of Voltron had been called in to help. Even Matt was drawn in and educated on all things Gardener, but when the appointed day for murder came, no bodies could be found. Extensive interviews stretched far across the city and the surrounding towns in search of a victim or even a missing person, but there was nothing. The Gardener had taken nothing.

 

“Kulai didn’t have more than sixty ticks alone with them, though,” Allura insisted. “I want justice as much as you do, Pidge, but there’s no way she could have done that much damage in that little time.”

 

“I hate to say it, but I agree,” Griffin admitted. “The evidence from the crime scene helps Allura’s case. Something was always off about that site.”

 

“It’s true,” Leifsdottir agreed. “The statistics don’t add up. Kulai is innocent.”

 

“Then tell me who else could  _ possibly  _ be guilty!” Pidge shouted.

 

All at once, all hell broke loose. Voices overlapped as more evidence poured out and arguments were made, no one able to come to any conclusion from the clues they had found or been given. Hunk frowned at all of this, studying the people around him until he noticed a slight glimmer from one of the crime scene photos. 

 

Hunk grabbed his tablet and enhanced the picture that had caught his attention, finding Lance’s bayard. It had been found in the water right where Lance had been attacked, a little too close to Deatrii and on the wrong side of Lance’s body if their guestimations were correct. Slowly, a theory developed that changed Hunk’s mind as the evidence began piling up.

 

“Guys…” he tried, then louder when no one listened. “Hey!”

 

Everyone quieted and turned to Hunk, who was looking to his tablet with an expression of fear and clarity. “Guys, what if… what if it was Deatrii?”

 

Stunned silence filled the room, but it was Coran who spoke up first. “It’s possible. You were on the lookout for someone on the inside.” Coran studied Hunk before asking. “But if he was the killer, why would he be dead right now? What changed your mind about Kulai?”

 

“This.” Hunk swallowed and closed his eyes, entirely unhappy at showing his latest ideas, but attuned his tablet to the screen anyways to show the picture he had been looking at. “Lance’s bayard was in the water. Keith, do you remember where?”

 

Keith turned his steely glare to Hunk, not particularly wanting to participate. All he wanted was to make Kulai pay for what she had done. This meeting only delayed the inevitable. Hunk, however, wouldn’t take no for an answer.

 

“It was on the wrong side, wasn’t it?” he asked. “And too close to Deatrii?”

 

“What’s your point?” Keith bit, but Hunk was undeterred.

 

“Just hear me out.” Hunk expanded the picture before continuing. “The only other blade on the scene was Deatrii’s, but it was still sheathed and there was no blood on it. Lance’s bayard had been in the water, so it could have been washed off.” 

 

“Hold on a minute; what do you mean ‘other blade’? Deatrii was the only one with a knife,” Rizavi interjected, but Hunk held up a finger.

 

“See, that’s where you’re wrong, though.” Hunk pulled up new pictures, these more personalized than the ones from the crime scene, and all showing off a happy, smiling Lance with different types of blue or red guns. The one that Hunk had decided to end on showed Lance with a red broadsword. “Lance had the ability to change his bayard into different weapons before any of us, the first of us to have more than one form- including a weapon that isn’t his preferred choice.”

 

“I forgot about that,” Matt piped. “When I asked him about it, he said he could summon a sword if he thought of a samurai.”

 

Keith nearly choked.

 

It went unnoticed, however, as Hunk pulled up another personalized picture of Lance holding his broadsword and smirking at Allura as they stood face to face for a friendly spar. “Lance is right handed, but he’s been known to try using his left in order to train harder, or if he was ever in a pinch.” Hunk’s face grew solemn, but he turned it to the table to announce his theory. “I think he used it to kill Deatrii.”

 

“ _ What? _ ” Hunk physically flinched from the venom in Keith’s voice and the anger that emanated off of him in waves. “How could you even say that?”

 

Hunk held up a hand. “Keith, hold on-”

 

“No!” Keith stood up from his chair, murder in his eyes. “How can you call yourself his best friend when you accuse him of murder?”

 

“I’m not!” Hunk tried.

 

“Sure sounds like it to me,” Keith spat. “He can’t even defend himself and you’re here slandering his name as a killer-”

 

“ _ It was self defense! _ ” Hunk screamed, actually slamming his hands down onto the table to force himself up from his chair. “Lance killed Deatrii because Deatrii would have killed him! That’s the only reason he would have done it!”

 

Silence permeated the room once more as Hunk and Keith stared the other down. Each member that surrounded the table was shocked, but none more so than Keith himself. After a moment of thought, more theories began to fly that collaborated with Hunk’s.

 

“He  _ was  _ part of the team,” Matt said. “He could have known the tech like you guys thought. It fits the profile you were looking for.”

 

“There is also the fact of the bruising,” Leifsdottir said suddenly. “His arms could easily fit the bruise patterns on any of the victims if you looked close enough.”

 

Griffin ticked his head. “Not to mention the patrol area that Ashanti was stationed and dumped at was closest to Deatrii’s area.”

 

Rizavi nodded agreement, arms crossed over her chest in thought. “He was always fascinated by humans.”

 

Meanwhile, Shiro never took his eyes off of Keith, watching as the young man grew more agitated. “Hunk may be right, Keith,” Shiro said softly. “It’s worth looking into.”

 

“ _ No _ ,” Keith snapped. “Kulai is guilty, I know she is. Why else would she trap Lance in a dream?”

 

“She claimed it was an accident.” Rizavi didn't flinch when Keith glowered at her, but that may have been because she was glaring right back. “Lance was in a panic and got lost in the memory of being murdered. It only made sense for Kulai to create a safer dream for him to go to, but she didn't expect for Lance to leave her behind.”

 

“How  _ noble  _ of her,” Keith snapped.

 

Rizavi’s frown deepened. “I was there too. I recorded it, remember? She seemed pretty shaken up to me. I think she's telling the truth.”

 

“Perhaps she's right.” Coran held up a hand before Keith could bark at him as well. “Since the whole ordeal was recorded for miss Veronica, I propose we watch it for ourselves and study both Kulai’s behavior and Lance's dream as he spoke it out loud. It may give us more clues.” He stopped to turn to Veronica. “If you're alright with it, that is.”

 

The room once again turned their attention to one person and waited for a response. Veronica had remained silent through the whole ordeal, listening rather than speaking, and sat with her fingers laced in front of her mouth. There was a pinch in her brow as she considered the proposal and when she opened her eyes, they were evenly angry and determined.

 

“Play it,” she ordered, her voice hard. “Keep your eyes open.”

 

It took but a moment to find the clip and produce it on the main screen, but having to listen to Lance’s screams felt like it lasted forever. The members of Voltron reacted poorly to the video, with Allura turning to look away and Hunk even tearing up a little. Keith had it the worst, though. He scowled at Veronica for making him relive this nightmare, but the woman remained stone-faced and tense, not even looking at anyone or anything in particular. When it was over, the lights returned, and Keith could see that Veronica’s fingers were clenched so tightly before her that her knuckles were white. 

 

The room took a moment to soak in what they had just witnessed. Pidge had lost a few shades of color in her face and Shiro was scowling just as harshly as Keith, while Coran looked to be steadying his breaths. While Voltron regrouped from the emotional attack, the others processed the new evidence on their own, staying quiet until they felt ready to produce their findings. Oddly enough, it was Kinkade who broke the silence this time.

 

“That was Spanish, wasn’t it?” Kinkade asked, earning a nod from Veronica.

 

“Spanish is our first language,” she explained, voice stern. “Kulai said that it was natural to think in your native tongue. Since he was in a dream, it makes sense. He didn’t need to translate for anyone.”

 

“Before that, though, he was describing what was happening around him,” Rizavi said, watching Veronica with a timid, almost pained look. “He only started speaking Spanish when he was dying, wasn’t he?”

 

Veronica nodded once firmly, her eyes still fixed on nothing and her scowl still strong behind her whitened knuckles. “Like I said. He didn’t need to translate for anyone.”

 

No one bothered to ask Veronica what Lance had said. No one really wanted to hear Lance’s dying thoughts.

 

“It makes sense,” Allura said softly. “When I read the report, I found their communication odd, and the recording helped to sort it out for me.” She pulled up the file that she had read and showed it to the others. “Lance said that his helmet had been ripped off of his head and that he had been hit with it. Evidence proves that his words are true, Lance’s helmet  _ was _ used to hit him before it was thrown aside, but his com was still enabled. Deatrii’s was still on his body, but it was manually turned off.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense to turn off your only means of communication with a killer on the loose.”

 

“His com link.”

 

All eyes turned to Pidge as she experienced an epiphany.

 

“Of  _ course _ , how could I have been so stupid?” Pidge growled in frustration and gripped her hair in a fury.

 

“Pidge, calm down, it’s alright,” Shiro told her. 

 

“No, it’s not,” Pidge bit out. “We haven’t watched Lance’s helmet because the camera was destroyed, but that doesn’t mean his mic was. I may be able to save the audio and we can  _ listen  _ to what happened.” She turned a determined glare to the group. “We can prove which twin did it.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh. New theories.
> 
> Sorry. I know I said I'd post the rest of the chapters but I got a little ikky and haven't been able to post online for a while. I'm better now, so here's the rest of the story like I promised. I hope you like it~
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love talking with you guys.


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth comes out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Full description of Lance's attack and the inability to breathe. Please take care of yourself.

  
  


**Chapter 11**

  
  
  


_ The mission _

\---

  
  


“Deatrii, wait!” Lance struggled to keep up with his partner as they raced through the tunnels. “We need to stick together!  _ Deatrii _ !”

 

“Lance!” At last, Deatrii stopped long enough to point out a tunnel. “In here! Come on!”

 

“Wait!” Lance grabbed onto Deatrii’s shoulder before the alien could bolt again. “There’s a killer on the loose. Try and think before you go running off on your own.”

 

At those sarcastic words, Deatrii seemed to recognize the error of his ways and became somewhat bashful. “Right, sorry.” He pointed his blaster down the tunnel that they were standing in. “I saw him go through here. He had a girl with him.”

 

Lance nodded, eyes glaring hard down the tunnel but unable to see much in the dim lighting. He tried to adjust the levels on his helmet but found it to be of no use.

 

“We lost communication with the others,” Lance said. “He must have tampered with our system again, but if we wait a minute, Pidge can at least have our radio connection back up and running again.”

 

“And by then, the girl will be dead,” Deatrii hissed. “I am not waiting around for another dead body.”

 

Deatrii rushed forward, only to be held back by Lance yet again. “Cool your jets, Dee, you can’t go in there alone.”

 

“Then you’d best have my back,” Deatrii said and marched forward without another word.

 

With a silent, irritated groan, Lance followed Deatrii down the tunnel into a large, open room. It was dark, with only a dim, ancient lamp to try and light up the whole expanse of the room over by a giant generator at one end of a large pit. Deatrii turned towards the darker end of the room, allowing Lance to search the area with more light in a silent agreement to split up and find the Gardener.

 

Static filled Lance’s helmet each time he tried contacting the others. They had all lost contact with one another shortly after dividing the teams into each section of the control tunnels and Lance had a feeling that it was done on purpose. The lack of connection with another being left the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. So when the sound of connection clicked in his helmet, Lance’s relief just about consumed him, until he heard a footfall behind him.

 

“ _ Wh--! _ ”

 

Before Lance could turn around, his helmet was ripped from his head. Lance immediately turned to face his captor, but was slammed in the face with his helmet and knocked off his feet, flying back straight into the pit below. Lance’s body slammed into the shallow waters of the pit while his head smacked against the concrete flooring, his bayard slipped from his grasp and was lost to the waters, but he was determined not to be caught off guard again and shot up to breathe in a great gasp of air- only to be shoved back into the water as another force pushed him back and something akin to a python snapped his leg like a twig.

 

Lance screamed in pain, his voice lost to bubbles under the water as whatever had broken his leg continued to curl around it in a vice-like grip. Another wrapped around his waist while two more gathered around his neck to yank him upward, causing water to back up inside Lance’s mouth and gag him. He coughed harshly, disoriented from pain and the sudden multiple switches from oxygen to water and back again, but Lance tried his damndest to grab hold of whatever was holding him and clear his eyes from the drips of water clinging to his eyelashes. When he did, the darkened figure of Deatrii loomed over him, daunting even without expression.

 

“Sorry, Lance,” Deatrii said gravely. “But you are way too close to stopping all my research. I can’t have you solving this case.”

 

“Dee-” Lance’s eyes widened and he tried to speak, but Deatrii tightened his hold over Lance’s neck, making him choke on his words. Lance scrambled to claw at Deatrii’s arms in vain, unable to remove the threat.

 

“Why did you have to be so smart?” Deatrii asked, sounding honestly offended. “We could have been great friends.”

 

Lance struggled against Deatrii’s hold to no avail while each tentacle wrapped tighter around his body. His broken leg went unnoticed as his lungs ached for air, panic beginning to take over the longer he found himself unable to escape.

 

“Now it’s all ruined because you needed to find out  _ ‘why,’ _ but science stops for no one.” Deatrii removed one of his tentacles from Lance’s neck to gently caress it down the side of Lance’s face, consequently allowing Lance to gasp the slightest bit of air into his lungs in doing so. “It's the eyes. They’re simply beautiful. You humans have such drastic expressions, even when you're dying…  _ Especially  _ when you're dying.”

 

There was a sickening sort of affection in Deatrii’s confession, his words almost tender and loving as he spoke. Meanwhile, Lance choked on the limited air that was allowed to him as he stared at his attacker with pleading eyes that welled with panic and tears.

 

“Please don’t be upset,” Deatrii went on. “Humans are such fascinating things. I have to learn more about your expressions, your emotions- I can’t stop it, no matter what. You understand, don’t you?” Deatrii slipped his hand away from Lance’s face, returning his tentacle around Lance’s throat and squeezing. “If it’s any consolation, you are  _ by far _ the most beautiful of all my research subjects.”

 

Deatrii’s grip tightened even further around Lance’s neck, sending Lance into a frenzy. His unbroken leg kicked and scraped against Deatrii’s body in a desperate attempt to put some space between them, but it only excited Deatrii even more. An unconscious chuckle slipped out of Deatrii as Lance splashed the water from his panic, sending ripples across the pit. His left hand dropped into the water in search of leverage to help Lance escape but it only served to slip through the algae that grew over the floor.

 

Darkness shadowed the edges of Lance’s vision and he could feel his body weakening, but still, Lance fought. His fingers searched for any relief, any escape, but Deatrii’s grip was relentless. As the seconds passed, Lance’s free leg began to slow and lose strength, slipping off of Deatrii’s side with no effect. His choked off gasps echoed off the walls but Lance’s hearing became distant, a low ringing beginning to grow in place of his struggles. He could feel it. Lance was dying.

 

As the realization entered his muddled brain, his tears finally fell into the waters below. Lance didn’t want to die, he still had so much left to do. He begged for help, for someone to come and save him, but his voice couldn’t get past his lips. Despair overtook him and Lance couldn’t stop the tears from doubling.

 

“Goodbye, Lance,” Deatrii whispered.

 

There was a new emotion that filtered through Lance at those words. Fear and pain faded away to anger, because Deatrii had no right to say what others could not. What he had stolen away from his friends and family. What he had stolen from Lance's mother. What he had stolen from Keith. 

 

Oh, Keith. Not Keith. It wasn’t fair, he still hadn’t told Keith the truth yet. Lance couldn’t die yet. Not when Lance wanted Keith, he wanted Keith, he wanted Keith, he wANTED KEITH!

 

Something registered at the back of Lance’s brain as his fingers felt something solid, something new, and even without the ability to think proper, Lance knew it was his last chance. So he swung.

 

Even through the darkness, Lance could see something sticking halfway through Deatrii’s neck. He felt something thick, warm and wet splash onto his face and down his hand, but not for long. As Deatrii finally released him, Lance fell back into the water and whatever it was that had covered him was washed away. It didn’t matter. Lance was tired, so very tired, and his body was too numb to stop him from closing his eyes. There was something important that he was supposed to do, Lance knew it, but he couldn’t be bothered to remember it when the slow current felt so nice on his skin. So very nice.

 

So he let it carry him away.

  
  


\---

 

_ Post mission _

  
  


Keith was going to be sick. He stared blankly to the floor to keep his lunch down in his stomach, but his ears had betrayed him. Keith was going to be  _ sick _ .

 

It had only taken Pidge a handful of hours to recover the lost audio in Lance’s helmet. Once they played it, the truth unraveled. Mere seconds after the final splash of Lance hitting the water, they all heard Kulai enter the scene, absolving her of any accusation. No one could speak. At the moment, the general consensus was shock, and no one could really blame them for it. The recording of Lance’s attack had left them all speechless. After an unsettling amount of silence, Pidge spoke up, not entirely sound of mind at the moment.

 

“Lance wasn't saying Deatrii’s name because he was worried about him… he was saying it to warn us about who the killer was.” Pidge’s voice was so quiet, it almost wasn’t even there.

 

Matt took this opportunity to lay a hand over his sister’s shoulder. Pidge curled up in her chair, knees drawn up to her chest in order to hold onto something until she latched onto Matt’s hand. Coran followed Matt’s example and placed his hand over Hunk’s back, but it was more for the Altean’s sake than Hunk’s as Coran bit down on his lip and held back his tears to the floor. Hunk was so lost in thought that he didn’t even respond to Coran’s touch. He merely sat in place, tears streaming down his face as the echoes of Lance’s attack played back in his mind.

 

There was a glint in Shiro’s eyes that no one could discern, but the fierceness of it was frightening. His fingers curled into fists atop the table, clenching so tightly that his muscles twitched. It was Allura who braved approaching his anger and placed a hand over his straining forearm. Allura herself was in tears. She looked to Shiro with a broken sort of despair that didn’t suit her personality at all. Shiro closed his eyes at that, the tension leaving his body, but the anger was still potent as he laid his new hand over Allura’s.

 

The MFE gang were all in different states of shock, and even Iverson was unsettled by what he had just heard. No one could speak. All words were lost in that moment. No words had meaning or made any sense because how could they when something so horrible had happened. There was no explaining it. It simply happened.

 

“He said ‘he,’” Veronica muttered, still glaring off into nothingness. 

 

Allura wiped at her eyes but turned her attention to the small voice that she heard. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

 

“He said  _ ‘he _ ,’” Veronica repeated. “Spanish separates words into masculine or feminine, male or female. The entire sentence structure is built around it. It’s not something that can be done by accident.” 

 

Without a word, Veronica pulled up the recording of Lance’s walk again and fast forwarded to the part where Lance had begun to panic. The others of the room grew even more distressed but Veronica ignored them all to press play. As it did, she began translating.

 

“‘Please. Help me. He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. I can't move. I can't. I haven't told Keith yet. I can't die. I can't breathe-’” Veronica’s voice finally cracked on the last translation and she swallowed hard to keep her emotions down, but she couldn’t stop a stray tear from falling down and off of her chin. Instantly, Rizavi ran a hand over Veronica’s back in soothing circles, not saying a word due to simply not knowing what was right to say in such a situation.

 

Veronica stopped the video and took a moment to take comfort from Rizavi, closing her eyes and steadying her breaths. After a short while, she finally turned to face the group, eyes dry and resolve strengthened anew. “Lance said it all along. ‘ _ He’s _ going to kill me.’ Lance was talking about Deatrii in his dream.”

 

If Keith felt sick before, he felt downright ill by then. The other members of Voltron looked equally disturbed at the new fact, but the others in the room continued on to justify the truth.

 

“Deatrii was the one who got a glimpse of the Gardener going into the tunnels and called out seeing him before running off,” Kinkade said quietly. “No one else saw it.”

 

“And Lance was his partner,” Griffin added, voice equally quiet, as though afraid the others would break. “I don’t think that was a coincidence.”

 

“It was, though. Keith set up the partners for everyone before the mission, right Keith?” Pidge turned to find agreement from him, but found the man pale and silent, wide eyes staring at the ground. “Keith?”

 

“I didn’t,” Keith whispered, then looked up to the group. “Lance wanted the two of us to take the twins. Said he wanted to try something…” Keith couldn’t breathe. “And he insisted that he partner up with Deatrii.”

 

Again, silence took over the room as realization settled in.

 

“Deatrii was right. Lance solved the case,” Shiro said, earning a shudder from Keith as he whispered to the floor again.

 

“And he almost died for it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know Spanish, and I forgot to mention this for the last time that I used it in Lance's dream, but I only had Google translate and two years of high school Spanish from forever ago to help me. I'm sorry if I got it wrong and if you have a better translation, I'd really appreciate knowing about it.
> 
> Also, I know I said I'd post the rest of the chapters AND I WILL, but company just came over so I'm going to have to put this on hold for a few hours. Tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Sorry, guys.
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love hearing from you guys.


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hindsight can be a cruel mistress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Description of Kieth being put under and how he feels during it. It's different for everybody but I put a little of my own experience in there for fun. If it's too much, tell me. Please.
> 
> Sorry for the late post. Last night was a little nuts, I didn't get to bed until 9am this morning. It was fun though X]
> 
> As promised, here are the final chapters. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did

  
  
  


**Chapter 12**

  
  


_ Post mission _

\---

  
  


Kulai wouldn’t accept the truth. Even when presented with all of the evidence, she still denied it and demanded the chance to bring Lance back in order to clear her brother’s name. So she was granted access back into Lance’s mind. The problem with this, however, was that Lance didn’t want her back in.

 

Lance had rejected Kulai’s efforts the second she laid hands on him, leaving her with the only option of sending someone else in her place. Kulai explained the process and how the one to retrieve Lance must be close to him, so the first attempt was made with Lance’s mother. The second, his grandmother. By the third failed attempt with Veronica, all hope seemed to be lost. Lance wanted no one to walk his dreams.

 

The Voltron team all gathered with Kulai outside of Lance’s room to allow his family privacy, but the doom and gloom followed them as well. Kulai herself was equally distraught, knowing that at the moment, she was the only one who could help Lance and clear her brother’s name. She and the others held a muted conversation over the next plan of action, but another voice could be heard just under the frustration that seemed to carry over everyone’s voices.

 

The gentle lull of a singing voice caught Keith’s attention and sent him searching for the source. A few steps over revealed his prize, and Keith watched through the wide window as Mrs. Espinosa gently stroked her son’s bangs with the back of her fingernails, humming a soft lullaby to him as he slept.

 

_ “Arrorró mi niño, arrorró mi sol. Arrorró pedazo, de mi corazón.” _

 

Mrs. Espinosa was laid out halfway between Lance’s bed and the uncomfortable chair, but her awkward position did nothing to deter her. She continued to sing, watching her son in the most loving way possible, so much that it made Keith ache inside. When he looked away, Mrs. Espinosa noticed Keith standing in the hallway and smiled to him softly before waving him inside. Begrudgingly, Keith obliged.

 

“How are you doing, Mrs. Espinosa?” Keith asked, but she clicked her tongue at this.

 

“Please, call me Lupe,” she said kindly. 

 

“‘Lupe?’” Keith looked to her, confused.

 

Lupe nodded with a smile. “Everyone does. It's short for Penelope.”

 

Keith nodded as well but said nothing more. Lupe accepted the silence about as well as her son would have.

 

“Do you know this song?” she asked Keith, who shook his head. “I sang it to all my boys. The girls got a different song but this one was special. It’s why I call Lance my sun.” Lupe smiled reverently to Lance, still stroking his hair. “Hush-a-bye my baby, hush-a-bye my sun. Hush-a-bye, oh piece of my heart.” She shrugged, eyes still on Lance. “It just seemed to fit, you know? My sun. My little ray of sunshine.”

 

Keith had to look away again, unable to watch as Lupe’s eyes watered over, but her smile stayed in place.

 

“He never minded when I called him that,” Mrs. Espinosa explained. “So I never stopped.”

 

The raw emotion was torture to Keith, and he simply couldn’t handle having such a jovial woman be brought down to this level of despair.

 

“He loved everything about you.” Keith didn’t know where the words came from, but they were out nonetheless, and Lupe was looking to him for more. “Everyone says that Hunk is his best friend, but that’s not true.” Keith looked to her timidly, but his voice stayed strong. “It’s you. It’s always been you.”

 

The most grateful of smiles spread across Mrs. Espinosa’s cheeks and those dreadful tears shimmered threateningly until she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening them again and nodded her thanks to Keith.

 

“Momma’s boy.”

 

The new voice was fond, not anywhere near as condemning or cruel as the usually taunted name suggested, and when Keith and Lupe turned to the new voice, they found Veronica, still in her hospital gear and leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, a sad smile on her lips. Once she had their attention, she walked into the room to stand beside her mother, speaking along the way.

 

“Always has been,” Veronica muttered. “That’s why he was always the baby.”

 

“He’s always been the baby because he was the  _ last _ of my babies.” Mrs. Espinosa chuckled at that and accepted the side hug that Veronica gave her, neither woman letting go as they stared down at Lance in his bed.

 

An all new ache formed in Keith’s gut at the sight of this. Watching the Espinosas comforting each other was certainly a scene that was cause for emotion, but this feeling was new. Of course there was pain at the inability to help, at the sight of their obvious pain, but strangely enough, there was also jealousy. Keith couldn’t take his eyes off of the pair, envious of having someone to hold onto, of having someone to support and lean on when Keith felt like falling over into a pitiful puddle on the floor. More than that, however, he felt the bitter sting of distance once again.

 

The Espinosa women were able to be so close to Lance that they could touch him freely. The self imposed separation burned Keith from the inside out. More than anything, he wanted to be by Lance’s side. He wanted to hold Lance’s hand or card his fingers through Lance’s hair like Lupe was so freely allowed to do. Instead, Keith was glued to the wall, incapable of showing how much he cared because… because of what? The thing that Keith had feared most ended up happening anyhow, and there Keith was, still holding back for nothing.

 

A little irritably, Keith shoved off of the wall and headed for the cabinet in the corner of Lance’s room. On the top shelf lay the spare bedding and pillow, but Keith only needed the blanket for now. He unfolded it partially as he walked back to Lance’s bedside and handed it to Veronica.

 

“Here,” Keith muttered. “He’s cold.”

 

Veronica took the blanket from Keith, a little dumbfounded until she noticed what Keith had. Carefully, she laid out the half-folded blanket over Lance’s arms and chest, covering the goosebumps that were spreading across his skin. Veronica straightened out the wrinkles in the fabric before she was satisfied, but seeing Keith hiding away in the corner of the room brought up more questions that had been nagging at her.

 

“Pretty observant,” she joked. “Especially from way over there.”

 

Keith said nothing, but his expression drooped even more. Veronica frowned. It was obvious to her how close Lance had become with his team and how much they all loved him in return. Keith’s hot-and-cold behaviour towards Lance, on the other hand, perplexed Veronica. Lance’s reactions to said behaviour only confused the situation more. Time to test some theories.

 

“Something’s been bothering me. Something Lance said,” Veronica said, still keeping her attention on the blanket. “He said ‘I haven’t told Keith yet.’ What do you think it was that he did not tell you?”

 

The question took Keith by surprise, as made obvious by his expression. He took a moment to ponder, but after a second or two, came up empty and shrugged. “... I don't know. Lance always talks.”

 

“He used to.” Lupe surprised Keith with the quiet objection, but she still looked to Lance with the same loving, sad face. “He used to share everything with me, but he's been distant since he came back. I can tell; something's been on his mind but he won't come to me. Something's stopping him now.”

 

Veronica hummed agreement. “Yeah, it’s sort of off-putting how isolated he’s been from us. Sure sign that he's upset about something.”

 

Truth seemed to slam into Keith, but the realization was nothing new to him. Regret consumed him as he thought back to all of the forced smiles, the quick agreements, the fake happiness, the grand show that Lance put on all because Keith had asked him to. Lance had been utterly miserable in his silence and Keith knew it.

 

“Keith? Honey, what's wrong?” Lupe noticed the change in him immediately and stood up to go to him. Her reaction, however, caught the concern of the others just outside of the room. All at once, team Voltron entered the room to save Keith from whatever it was that ailed him.

 

Keith's posture worsened the second that they stepped through the door, but Lupe wouldn't allow the others to come any nearer. Not when Keith looked like he had just murdered a puppy. Gently, Lupe tucked a stray strand of hair behind Keith's ear, but that only made things worse when he closed his eyes.

 

“It was me,” he muttered. “He didn't come to you because of me; because I made him-” Keith opened his eyes to the floor, angry and hurt.

 

Lupe moved her gentle touch to Keith's shoulder. “What are you talking about, hon?”

 

“It was  _ me _ ,” Keith insisted, turning to Lupe and giving her the most wretched, self-deprecating look imaginable. “I did this. He just wanted you involved; to share his life with you but I kept it all to myself, because I asked him to and he absolutely hated it.” Keith's expression changed then as a new realization came over him again. “He hated it. He told me all the time but he stayed miserable just to keep me happy, but I- I couldn't do the same for him, I-” There was a distance to his eyes as Keith whispered out his deepest regret. “I made him unhappy.”

 

Keith pulled away from Lupe’s touch, feeling unworthy of any affection at the moment and chuckled humorlessly to the ground. “I never listened because I was scared. Now I don't know if he'll ever know the truth. I'm so fucking stupid.”

 

“Keith?” Shiro stopped short when Keith stepped away from his advances, but Lupe took this chance to try again.

 

“Keith, we don't know what you're talking about,” she said softly. “What are you afraid of?”

 

Another humorless huff left Keith as he stared a little madly to the floor. The question of his psychosis was seriously under debate for a moment before he closed his eyes again. After a handful of deep breaths, Keith finally opened his eyes to watch Lupe, who waited patiently for him to speak.

 

“Lupe, I…” The smallest of sad smiles slowly appeared. “I am so in love with your son that it literally scares me. So much that I wouldn't even admit it out loud, or let him do it either.” 

 

Shock swept over the Voltron crew, but the sincerity in Keith's voice kept them all silent. The crazy look in Keith’s eyes was gone, replaced with a deep regret that was nearly tangible. He lowered his head in shame but quickly decided to continue his confession, if only out of respect for Lance's mother.

 

“All he wanted to do was talk to you,” Keith whispered. “But I wouldn't let him because I was scared. Because when you say it out loud, it becomes real and it can be taken away… but he's already… he still…” His voice held a tremor to it the longer he spoke, and finally, Keith lifted his gaze back to Lupe. “I could have stopped all this so much sooner.”

 

For the longest thirty seconds of his life, Keith waited for Lupe’s reaction. Whatever it would be, he would accept because he knew that he deserved it. After all, Keith had made Lance completely shut out his family and ruined his happiness. What mercy could he possibly be owed?

 

Lupe observed Keith silently, her eyes burning over him with every passing second. Her expression stayed calculated, never showing a crack in her armor as she comprehended Keith's actions. Then, ever so slowly, she raised her hand.

 

Keith closed his eyes, ready for the strike but startled when it rested gently over his cheek. He looked to Lupe, stunned when she smiled at him and cupped his face with her other hand. Always gentle, she rubbed her thumb just under his eye, trying to calm him as best she could.

 

“Oh, sweet boy. You really think it's your fault,” Lupe said softly, then shook her head. “I don't believe that but you do. If you're anything like my son then there's nothing that I can do to change your mind.” She rose her eyebrows and tilted Keith's head to look her in the eye. “So what are you going to do about it?”

 

For a while, Keith didn't do anything. He was still too stunned to even do anything other than stare at Lupe with wide, amazed eyes. Then, minutely, he shook his head and used whatever voice was left in him. “I don't…”

 

Veronica cut him off with a sigh, bringing everyone's attention to her. “Well, that certainly explains a few things. No wonder it didn't work for us.”

 

Keith's surprise shifted over to Veronica, but he still let Lupe hold Keith close. “What do you mean?”

 

“C’mon, man, isn't it obvious?” Veronica crooked her fingers into quotation marks.  “‘I want Keith.’ It was the last thing he said before he passed out.” She shrugged and swept an arm out to Keith. “If anyone has a chance of finding him, it's you.” 

 

Keith shook his head again because that wasn't right- it  _ couldn't _ be right. All Lance had ever wanted was to be with his family and Keith did all he could to put a wedge between them. Sure, it wasn't completely intentional, but it still left Lance isolated, and it was all Keith's doing. There was no possible way that Lance could ever forgive Keith, let alone continue to block out his family in favor of seeing Keith instead. Somehow, Veronica thought otherwise.

 

“You know my little brother,” Veronica said. “You spent the last few years getting to know him. You know how to get through to him in ways that we don't.” She gestured to herself and her mother. “And you know how he’s dealt with the stress of this job better than any of us because you _know_ he'd never show any of us; so why would he show us _now_ , at his most vulnerable?” Her gaze hardened, pinning Keith to the spot. “You know how to find him, Keith.”

 

Silently, Lupe pat Keith's shoulder and offered a reassuring smile, agreeing with Veronica without a single word. It forced Keith to swallow the lump in his throat as he held eyes with her, still wide with fear. The longer they stared, however, the more Keith could see just how much Lupe trusted him. There was not a doubt in her mind that Keith could bring her boy home, and it nearly burned Keith alive. He couldn't let her down again.

 

Without a word, Keith pulled away from Lupe and charged past the others out through the door. Kulai was still sitting in the same chair as before, having not moved but still able to hear the conversation with her acute senses. She didn't even have to look at Keith to know what he wanted, but she turned to him still in acceptance of his demand.

 

“Take me to Lance.”

 

\---

 

Keith was ready to go the moment he had made his decision. The hospital, on the other hand, was a different story. He was never the type of person to fall asleep under stress, so the breathing exercises that Lance had done before wouldn't be enough to put Keith into the dream state that was required for the rescue mission. The obvious solution to this problem was to induce sleep, which Keith had vehemently agreed to, but after Veronica’s failed attempt to find Lance, the anesthesiologist had gone home for the night, leaving Keith to wait impatiently for morning. 

 

“Shiro, I wouldn't have asked if it weren't important,” Keith said, but Shiro refused.

 

“I am not going to knock you out.”

 

“Just one punch, that's all I need,” Keith insisted. “Everything else is all set, I just need to sleep.”

 

“I'll do it,” Pidge piped with a grin but was quickly shut down by another one of Shiro’s patented ‘dad-glares.’ 

 

Keith held a hand out to Pidge in an expectant gesture. “I'll let her,” he threatened. “If you don't, she will.”

 

An exacerbated sigh forced its way out of Shiro and he rubbed at his eyes to the point of seeing spots. It was a little hard to believe that Keith would ask him of this after all of the progress Keith had made, but at the same time, it made sense. Old habits die hard.

 

Shiro dragged his hand down from his eyes enough to rest over the lower half of his face, allowing him to glare at Keith in annoyance. Keith gave as good as he got, annoying Shiro further. He wasn't going to budge on this no matter what Shiro said, and who knew what trouble Keith would get into without Shiro around. It was kind of a miracle that Keith had even asked in the first place.

 

It was true, everything was set up properly for the excursion. Hours before, Keith had been given thorough instructions on how to connect with Kulai in the dreamworld and how to call to her in order to evacuate quickly should an emergency arise. After that, a nurse had already come by earlier that evening to hook up the boys to their respective IVs and heart monitors to keep track of their progress while Kulai sent Keith into Lance’s mind. Their beds had been shoved together end to end, and their pillows had been replaced with folded cloth in order to force the two even closer. Lance laid in his bed sleeping silently while Keith sat up in his to argue with Shiro, leaving plenty of room for Kulai to stand beside the two in order to hold her hands over each of their heads. It was a strange set up, but necessary nonetheless in order for the boys to sleep with their heads as close as possible. Standing behind the foot of Keith's bed, Kulai leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, a little nonplussed herself.

 

“Whatever happens, happens. I can still work with him so long as he's unconscious,” she said. “I just want my brother's name cleared.”

 

Well, that was no help. Shiro gaged the room with a quick sweep, hoping to find some support. Hunk had already gone home to make some chicken soup for his mother and the Alteans had gone back to the Garrison to finish some work, but the others had managed to stay behind. Pidge looked eager at the prospect of getting to either watch or slug Keith herself, so she was out. Mrs. Espinosa was dozing in a cushioned chair that Hunk had been kind enough to find and drag in for her and Shiro couldn't really blame the woman for being tired- especially at such a late hour. Beside her, Veronica stood with her arms crossed as well, looking impatient. She didn't say anything, most likely just as willing as Keith was to do anything to bring her brother back, so once again, Shiro was outnumbered. 

 

With a heavy sigh, Shiro dropped his hands from his face and stepped closer to Keith without a word. He held eyes with Keith as he gripped Keith's shoulder, steadying the man with his right hand while he pulled his left arm back for a strike.

 

“Uh-uh.” Keith immediately shook his head and crossed his arms. “Right hand.”

 

“ _ Keith- _ ” Shiro whined, but was cut off.

 

“Do you  _ want  _ to hit me more than once?” Keith asked. “Because that's what's going to happen if you don't do this right the first time.”

 

Shiro frowned at Keith with all his might. Keith merely looked to Shiro expectantly, arms still crossed as he waited for Shiro to switch hands.

 

“... On a scale of one to ten, you're worse than Slav right now,” Shiro grumbled.

 

“Only because you actually like me,” Keith quipped, then closed his eyes. “Now do it.”

 

Defeat washed over Shiro and he sagged with an exhausted sigh, watching Keith with very little surprise, if he were to be honest with himself. Slowly, Shiro sucked in a deep breath and readied his right hand for a punch. He smashed his eyes closed, completely unwilling to hurt the man he considered his younger brother, when he was saved by the smallest of voices.

 

“ _ Ahem _ ?” 

 

Shiro- and everyone else in the room- turned to find a tiny nurse standing almost sheepishly in the doorway. She looked entirely confused and even more disturbed at the sight before her, eyes wide at the Captain of the Atlas as he prepared to punch her patient. There was a moment where she wanted to scream at him, to scare him away from her patient and call security if need be, but the atmosphere seemed… inappropriate. Not hostile, like it should have been. So instead, she held up a syringe.

 

“Someone needed some sleepy juice?” she asked, hopefully.

 

“Oh, thank goodness!” Shiro completely deflated in relief, causing the nurse to smile a bit when he turned back to her patient and shook his head. “I  _ really  _ didn’t want to do that.”

 

Pidge actually pouted. “Party-pooper.”

 

The nurse cocked a brow at that but ignored it to step up to her patient’s IV. “I’m Calli, I’ll be your night nurse. Can you tell me your name and birthdate?” Her patient, Keith, answered her without hesitation and practically held his arm out for her to ‘pick a vein’. She chuckled at this as she began slowly injecting the syringe into a seperate port in Keith’s IV. “No need, but I like the enthusiasm.”

 

“Sorry about earlier,” Shiro had stepped off to the side to allow Calli her space, just as kind as the rumors had said. “Forgive me for asking but, I thought the anesthesiologist had gone home for the day?”

 

“She did,” Calli answered, still injecting the medicine as slowly as she possibly could. “I got a call from commander Iverson asking for a favor, so the doc and I pulled a few strings.” She nodded to the syringe in her hand. “This isn’t as strong as the gas but it’ll do the same thing. And since it’s not the strong stuff, I’m qualified to give it as long as the doctor says it’s okay.” 

 

Keith had been watching the syringe like a hawk the entire time, but now his attention swerved to Calli instead. “Not as strong? Will it still work? I’m not feeling anything yet.”

 

“And you’re not going to for another couple of minutes,” Calli answered, finally finishing with the medicine and pulling away to dispose of the empty syringe properly. “It’s only weaker because it’s slower. You’ll be out soon, no worries.” Once everything was thrown away, Calli stepped over to the sink to wash her hands. “I’ll be here on standby to watch your vitals and keep you safe. You have nothing else to worry about; we’ve got you covered.”

 

The noise from Calli had stirred Mrs. Espinosa from her in-and-out dozing and she watched from her seat in the corner as Keith situated himself on the bed, drawing himself so close to Lance’s head that their hair touched. Once he laid down, Lupe stood from her seat and headed over to him. Keith blinked up at her, a little surprised but Lupe could only smile as she kissed his forehead.

 

“You bring him home so he can introduce us properly,” Lupe whispered, cupping Keith’s face so tenderly that he nearly couldn’t handle all of the love that was being showered over him.

 

Determination filled Keith up at all of the affection and he nodded to Lupe. “Yes ma’am.”

 

Lupe smiled even sweeter and pat his cheek reassuringly before stepping away. She was quickly replaced with Shiro, who leaned down to Keith’s space with a slight smirk.

 

“I still can't believe you never told me about Lance,” Shiro muttered. “I can’t believe I never  _ saw _ it.”

 

Keith only shrugged, suddenly feeling heavy. “There were more important things going on.”

 

Shiro cocked a brow at this response. “This seems kind of important.”

 

“Why?” Keith asked, confused. “Because of the war?”

 

A mix between a laugh and a scoff found its way out of Shiro. “Because it's important to  _ you _ .”

 

For about a minute, Keith seemed to ponder that, making Shiro pause as well. He studied Keith as he worked to comprehend Shiro’s statement, as though the most obvious answer may or may not have been that obvious to Keith afterall. Slowly, Shiro lowered himself even further to bring some sort of privacy to their conversation.

 

“You're allowed to be happy, Keith,” Shiro whispered to him. “And you're allowed to share that happiness.”

 

Again, Keith stayed quiet as he processed Shiro’s words, but then, the slightest tilt tugged at the corner of his lips and he looked up to Shiro.

 

“I'm starting to figure that out.”

 

The next few minutes were spent preparing everyone to leave. Pidge grumbled out the door at not having the chance to see Keith ‘drugged out of his mind,’ and how inconsiderate Keith was being for not giving her any blackmail material. Veronica gathered her things and waited outside of the door for her mother, but Lupe stayed put. She had promised to see Keith through the scary parts, and by God, she was going to keep her promise. So, until Keith was properly asleep, Lupe was staying with Shiro and her boys.

 

Despite what Calli had said, Keith could already feel the effects of the sedative working through his veins. Words were a little harder to understand, his blood felt heavy and his vision swam a little when he turned to look at anything a little too quickly. He furrowed his brow, irritated and a little confused at the weird feeling this medicine brought, but more than anything, it was unnerving. It was strange and new and unpredictable, and suddenly, Keith needed to know that he had something near him, something sturdy to hold onto, to keep him safe in such a vulnerable state.

 

Keith’s hands shot out in search of that stability, going wide to his sides, down low, out in front of him- he needed to hold onto something. Beside him, he could hear Shiro saying something, sounding worried, but that only made things worse. Shiro doesn’t get worried. Keith flailed a bit more- he had to find something even if his swirling eyes couldn’t pin anything down, but then, something stopped. His hand snatched onto something strong, something solid, something familiar.

 

Slowly, Keith’s heavy breathing settled down, not even realizing he had begun to panic in the first place as he struggled to focus on what his hand had caught. The fuzz went away, if only slightly, to reveal Shiro’s prosthetic hand clasped in his own. Keith focused on it, matched his breaths to the low pulsing glow from the mechanics of it, and found himself relaxing for once.

 

Keith was absolutely transfixed on Shiro’s hand, and soon enough, he found his other hand grasped loosely around Shiro’s prosthetic as well. If Keith's sudden touchiness bothered Shiro at all, nothing was said. It wouldn't have mattered to Keith anyhow. He was finally calm. Things finally made sense. 

 

Nothing was scary anymore. Nothing was wrong. Nothing could be bad as long as Shiro was there to protect him. Shiro made everything okay. Keith huffed out a laugh, a little annoyed with himself now. Shiro made everything okay. He could have told Shiro all along. He could have told anyone all along.

 

“Hey, Shiro?”

 

Keith didn’t know if he had spoken out loud or not, he couldn’t really feel his voice in his throat any more, but Shiro hummed to him as though curious. A smile grew from the sound, making Keith bury his head down deeper into the mattress.

 

“... I really like Lance,” Keith whispered. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

This time Keith could hear Shiro, even if his eyes were becoming too heavy to keep open.

 

“Yeah…” Keith closed his tired eyes, but his smile stayed strong on his face. “Turns out… I wanted to tell people too.”

 

There wasn’t much of a response after that, and if there was, it was muffled. Shiro’s words didn’t make any sense after Keith's eyes closed, because everything sounded like it was being said through a pillow. Keith couldn’t be bothered by it, though, because soon enough, even the muffled words were gone, and then there was only silence as he fell asleep.

 

\---

 

Kulai waited another ten minutes before she even attempted to look at Keith. His reaction to the sedative had been a little off-putting, but after a few test pokes, she was sure that Keith had been properly sedated, and set up beside the two paladin’s beds. She touched her thumbs together and spread her fingers out as wide as they could go, hovering over both Lance and Keith’s heads and began to concentrate.

 

Everyone but Shiro and the nurse, Calli, had left the room in order to give Kulai this time to work, allowing her fewer minds to feel and more time to search for her dedicated targets. The sound of the mismatched heart monitors were quiet only moments before, but now in the silence of the room, they were the loudest sounds ever to roam the Earth. Kulai shook the thought away and breathed in deeply a few times before diving in, her fingers glowing dimly as she began to look for Lance. 

 

“Lance?” she asked. “Can you hear me?”

 

Nothing. No touch, no call, nothing but emptiness. Same as before. Kulai let out a silent, irritated sigh, but decided to move on and search for Keith instead.

 

“Keith?” she asked again. “Are you there?”

 

For a split second, nothing happened, but then she felt it. The slight, hesitant touch of Keith’s consciousness reaching out to her. The heart monitor connected to Keith beeped slightly faster as he did so, showing his nerves even if he himself could not. Below her hands, Keith’s head moved on its own in order to lay straight, facing her hands in his sleep and causing Shiro’s eyes to widen.

 

“Yes,” Keith whispered, his voice light and dream-like. “I’m here.”

 

“Good,” Kulai cooed. “Stay with me if you can. I will be your guide.” Again, Keith whispered an affirmative, so Kulai went on. “Can you tell me where you are?”

 

For many moments, there was only the beeping of the monitors as Keith assessed his surroundings. Then, just as quietly, Keith answered once again.

 

“I’m in a dark place,” Keith muttered. “There’s nothing but black.”

 

Kulai nodded, unseen. “This is the protection of a mind that does not want to be interrupted. It’s inside of everyone, but it can be brought down if you try carefully enough. Do you understand?”

 

Keith nodded slowly.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

“Yes...” 

 

It was barely a voice at all, breathy and whispered, but she heard it nonetheless. Kulai breathed in again and pushed on.

 

“Stop focusing on the darkness around you; you won’t find him there,” Kulai explained. “Close your eyes. Now concentrate. What can you smell? Tell me about it. Describe it.”

 

Keith took his time to concentrate on the task given to him once again. His brow furrowed in his sleep as he searched, and even after he found it, the expression stayed.

 

“His stupid face cream,” Keith finally answered, the scowl slowly melting away. “He was so excited when he found it…” Suddenly, the frown came back, but it was confused rather than determined. “Wait… no, it's different now. It… it's changing...”

 

“What is it now?” Kulai asked.

 

Ever so slightly, Keith’s head tilted back with a deep, slow breath, almost as if he were reaching for the smell with his lungs alone, and his heartbeat began to slow down. “It ... sunscreen. I smell sunscreen… and … I think- I think that’s moss?” The furrow in Keith’s brow deepened. “I don’t know, I’ve never smelled this before. It’s wet, like… Like the fishing pond dad used to take me to but… but different…”

 

They were getting closer; closer than any other participant had ever gotten with Lance so far. Kulai knew it was only a matter of time, but she remained stoic if only to keep whatever olive branch Lance would give them. There was no room for error here. 

 

“It’s alright if you don’t know, find what you do know and work with that. Focus on what else is around you,” Kulai said. “What do you feel?”

 

Once more, Keith did as he was told, but this time his answer came faster than before. 

 

“It’s warm.” His voice was soft and airy, almost carefree as his heart slowed even more. “My whole body is warm and … it's safe here.” He sluggishly shook his head. “I don't know how I know, but I do. This place is safe.”

 

Closer. So much closer.

 

“What do you hear?”

 

A thought, and then, a smile. Small, but growing ever still.

 

“Laughing… He’s laughing…” Keith tipped his head back again, slowly, searching. “I think…”

 

The connection was cut, instantly lost, but there was no fear. All at once, the mismatched sound of the heart monitors had synced up eerily beat for beat as Keith slipped away from Kulai’s grasp and fell silent. Kulai sealed him in before pulling her hands away and stepping aside to face Shiro, now confident that Keith was in a safe place.  

 

It was all up to Keith, now.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going for eerie. How'd I do?
> 
> Also, I was looking for Cuban lullabies but found this one to be the one that worked best for the story? That whole "sun" name for Lance that I was talking about a few chapters ago should hopefully make sense now. Incoming long translation that I found online:
> 
>  
> 
> Arrorró mi niño  
> Canción de cuna  
> (Spanish)  
> Arrorró mi niño,  
> arrorró mi sol,  
> arrorró pedazo,  
> de mi corazón.
> 
> Este niño lindo  
> ya quiere dormir;  
> háganle la cuna  
> de rosa y jazmín.
> 
> Háganle la cama  
> en el toronjil,  
> y en la cabecera  
> pónganle un jazmín  
> que con su fragancia  
> me lo haga dormir.
> 
> Arrorró mi niño,  
> arrorró mi sol,  
> arrorró pedazo,  
> de mi corazón.
> 
> Esta leche linda  
> que le traigo aquí,  
> es para este niño  
> que se va a dormir.
> 
> Arrorró mi niño,  
> arrorró mi sol,  
> arrorró pedazo,  
> de mi corazón.
> 
> Este lindo niño  
> se quiere dormir...  
> cierra los ojitos  
> y los vuelve a abrir.
> 
> Arrorró mi niño,  
> arrorró mi sol,  
> duérmase pedazo,  
> de mi corazón.  
> Hush-a-bye My Baby  
> Lullaby  
> (English)  
> Hush-a-bye my baby  
> Hush-a-bye my sun  
> Hush-a-bye oh piece  
> of my heart.
> 
> This pretty child  
> Wants to sleep already  
> Make him a cradle  
> of rose and jasmine.
> 
> Make him a bed  
> On the lemon balm  
> And at the head  
> Put jasmine  
> With its fragrance  
> To put him to sleep for me.
> 
> Hush-a-bye my baby  
> Hush-a-bye my sun  
> Hush-a-bye oh piece  
> of my heart.
> 
> This beautiful milk  
> That I bring him here  
> Is for this baby  
> Who is going to sleep.
> 
> Hush-a-bye my baby  
> Hush-a-bye my sun  
> Hush-a-bye oh piece  
> of my heart.
> 
> This lovely baby  
> Wants to sleep  
> He closes his eyes  
> And opens them again.
> 
> Hush-a-bye my baby  
> Hush-a-bye my sun  
> Hush-a-bye oh piece  
> of my heart.
> 
>  
> 
> Tell me what you think. I love talking with you guys


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last chance to bring Lance home... but what if he doesn't want to come back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Description of Keith coming out of a drug nap. Mostly what I feel from personal experience but it's not normally that off putting. Then again, I'm used to this stuff so for someone like Kieth who I believe doesn't like having no control over a situation, I feel like it could use a bit of edge in the description.
> 
> According to the interwebs, Lance's family has names. So I used what I found online. If it turns out to be wrong, awell. It's fiction. But, this is what I found:
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>  
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> Mother (Unnamed), Marco (Brother), Luis (Brother), Rachel (Sister), Veronica (Sister), Grandma (Unnamed), Lisa (Sister-in-Law), Nadia (Niece), Sylvio (Nephew)

  
  
  
  
  


**Chapter 13**

  
  


\---

  
  


“Laughing…”

 

Keith concentrated on the question, but he didn’t have to think too long. He knew the darkness was gone, replaced with sunshine and sand between his toes. The sound of waves rushed to his ears, but more importantly, he could hear that melodious laugh that always meant good things. Still, he kept his eyes closed for fear of the unknown.

 

“He’s laughing…”

 

Don’t open your eyes. 

 

The voice of instinct that Keith always listened to was shouting in his head, screaming poisonous whispers into his ears.

 

Don’t open your eyes. It was darkness, it was nothingness, it could come back if you open your eyes. It’s safer this way, you’re so close now, closer than anyone else has gotten, you could lose him forever if you open your eyes. Don’t open your eyes.

 

_ ‘I need you to trust me if we're going to make this work.’ _

 

Lance was there. Keith knew he was there; could practically reach out and touch Lance if he wanted to. Keith reached out as far as his arms would go, but nothing but sunshine touched his skin.

 

“I think…”

 

Don’t open your eyes.

 

_ ‘I need you to trust me…’ _

 

Keith opened his eyes.

 

There on the most beautiful beach Keith had ever seen stood the most wonderful man he had ever met.

 

“I found him,” Keith whispered.

 

The sight of Lance’s laughter erased the heaviness that had built up in Keith’s chest because this laughter was genuine. No acting, no restraints, no hidden meaning- it was joy in its purest form and it was the most beautiful thing Keith had ever laid eyes on.

 

There Lance was, nothing but his swim trunks on, skimming along the shores of the beach on a boogie board with more grace than he had ever shown anywhere else. He glided across the few inches of water for several feet until the next wave came and crashed over his ankles. Then, and only then, did he turn and jump off of the board, still smiling his glorious smile.

 

“Alright! I am the master!” Lance crowed. “I hope you were watching because it’s your turn, Keith!”

 

Keith jolted from his obvious ogling, completely caught off guard. He stepped forward to answer Lance’s siren call, but before he could, another form appeared.

 

“If you can handle it, then it can’t be all that hard.”

 

From the corner of his eye, another Keith showed up with a boogie board and similar trunks to Lance’s. He made a running start for the beach before tossing the board down and jumping atop it to try and copy Lance’s previous skills. This Keith wasn’t nearly as graceful as Lance had been, needing to throw his arms out wildly in the air to stay upright the entire way, but he managed to stay on the board for a few feet before crashing into Lance with a yelp.

 

Of course, Lance laughed when the two of them ended up in a pile on the beach- until the next wave came and washed the two in water, making the dream Keith pitch out a shrill noise at the temperature. Then he outright cackled. The dream Keith didn’t quite appreciate this, so he shoved Lance into the water and chuckled when Lance flailed under the retreating wave. Lance was quick to counter, and soon enough, the two were wrestling.

 

Keith watched in amazement at the sight before him. There was nothing different about this dream Keith. In fact, as far as he could consider it, Keith thought that this Keith was just about as much like him as his real self. He even fought like Keith would fight, going so far as to make the same moves that Keith had thought up as he watched the two wrestle. If that made any sense.

 

Lance was pinned beneath the dream Keith now, glaring up at him with his trademark pout. “That was totally cheating!”

 

“No it wasn’t,” Keith muttered.

 

“No it wasn’t,” Dream Keith said, and Keith was unnerved to find that it sounded pretty similar to the way he had just said it himself.

 

A smirk that had become wonderfully familiar to Keith spread across Lance’s lips. “Nope. You cheated. I can tell.” He turned his nose up as much as he could from his position on the ground. “So now you have to pay the penalty.”

 

“What penalty?”

 

Both Keiths had asked at the same time with the same amount of incredulousness, and now the real Keith was becoming uncomfortable at how exact they were in Lance’s mind.

 

The smirk deepened. “Dish duty.”

 

Dream Keith scoffed. “Pass.”

 

Lance openly gaped. “You can’t pass on a penalty! You totally cheated; you earned it!”

 

“I’m not doing your chores for you, Lance,” Dream Keith said flatly.

 

“Fine!” Lance turned away and crossed his arms, still trapped between Dream Keith’s thighs. “Then you’re stuck with the title of cheater. A dirty, rotten cheat.”

 

“Oh, no, whatever will I do?” Dream Keith droned.

 

Lance whipped back to Dream Keith in an outrage, fully prepared to counter Dream Keith’s sass, but this Keith was already chuckling and leaning down to nuzzle his nose with Lance’s, teasing him with an evasive kiss that never quite touched down.

 

The real Keith felt an ache in his chest. Despite it being a version of himself, Keith still didn’t like watching Lance have such a tender moment with someone that was  _ not him _ . Still, Lance looked so happy. So terribly blissful in this dream Keith’s arms, touching him softly, giggling lightly.

 

It was another voice that broke them apart. Someone unseen at the other end of the beach, but Lupe’s voice was unmistakable. Dream Keith gave Lance one last, sweet smile before jumping to his feet and running away.

 

“Those empanadas are  _ mine _ !” Dream Keith called.

 

Again, Lance squawked in outrage and scrambled to his feet to chase after him. “Dirty, rotten  _ cheat _ !”

 

Desperation filled Keith at the thought of losing Lance again, and all at once, whatever it was that was holding him back before let go, and Keith was set free.

 

“Lance!”

 

The panicked sound of his name reached his ears, stopping Lance in his tracks and making him turn to the real Keith. Confusion settled over his features for a moment as behind him the dream Keith faded and disappeared, leaving no trace of himself when Lance turned to find him. Lance turned back to the real Keith and cautiously made his way back to the beach.

 

“Keith?”

 

Keith was a real sight to see. Gone were the swim trunks and slowly spreading sunburn across his skin, and any smile that Lance adored could not be found. Instead, there stood a slightly frightened Keith in medical scrubs, watching Lance approach him with wide, nervous eyes. Lance quickened his steps.

 

“Hey man, what’s wrong? What...” Lance reached out to hold Keith’s hands to offer comfort in any way he could, and shook away his confusion to focus on his beloved Keith. “What happened?”

 

At first, Keith accepted the small touch that was offered to him, but then, it wasn’t enough. Keith had gone days without Lance’s touch under the belief that he would never receive it again, and if he had to go another second without it, he would most certainly burst. So without a care in the world, Keith threw his arms around Lance and pulled him in close, not letting go for several, long moments.

 

Lance tensed when Keith did this, but sensing the distress and knowing how rare it was for Keith to actively seek out solid affection that restrained him for any length of time, Lance immediately held Keith back just as tightly. He nuzzled lightly into Keith’s hair and whispered soft words to him, knowing that sugar coating anything would only make Keith even more upset. Keith was a realist, afterall.

 

The two stayed locked onto each other for several seconds, simply enjoying the presence of the other for however long they could manage. Gradually, Lance managed to calm Keith down enough to crack a joke, which Keith swatted at his arm for. This was much better, and Lance couldn’t stop his easy smile as he pulled away.

 

“So either the clouds have glitched or- oh… Oh, no… ” Lance’s smile dropped from his face and sadness overtook him in the literal blink of an eye with his sudden realization. “Did you die too?”

 

Now it was Keith’s turn to be confused. “What?”

 

Lance shook his head to the sand, still forlorn as he gently stroked up and down Keith’s arm. “I don’t see how you would be here any other way.” He looked back up to Keith, still reserved. “So how did it happen? Please tell me it wasn’t painful.”

 

Keith blinked, still drawing a blank at Lance’s insinuation. “I’m not dead.”

 

A chuckle snorted out of Lance. “How else would you get into heaven?”

 

“Heav-” Keith stopped short, finally understanding Lance’s words. “Lance… this isn’t heaven.”

 

Lance scoffed and pulled further away from Keith to shrug his arms out and turn to the beach. “Look, all I’m saying is that when I died, I ended up here, so if this isn’t heaven then hell has some pretty bad false advertising going on.”

 

“No-” Keith fisted his hands to his sides with a grunt. “Lance, you’re not dead!”

 

Lance crossed his arms and looked to Keith unimpressed. “Hate to break it to you, man, but yes. I am. I was there.”

 

“No, you’re wrong.” Keith was getting irritated.

 

“No, I’m right.” Lance’s expression grew dark as he looked away. “Had front row seats to when Deatrii killed me.”

 

Behind him, Keith heard something new. The rhythmic lullaby of the waves had stopped and was replaced with the sound of splashing. Immediately, Keith turned to find the source and felt sick. Deatrii was holding Lance right along the surface of the water, watching him thrash in desperation as the echoes of Deatrii’s chuckle surrounded him. Keith whipped back around to turn away from such a horrid sight, only to find Lance stood off to the side with his back to Keith, alone and holding himself so tightly that his skin turned white underneath his fingernails.

 

“Lance-”

 

Keith made his way back to Lance in an instant and reached out to him with abandon. Lance had his eyes closed, scowling to the ground and refusing to meet with Keith’s gaze.

 

“See?” Lance muttered with a shaky voice. “Dead.”

 

Heartache consumed Keith at the realization. All things considered, if he had been ripped from a memory and then immediately thrown into a dream, Keith would have been a little backwards too. But Lance’s memory had been of murder, and this dream… this dream was paradise. It wasn’t that far of a stretch to think what Lance had considered.

 

Carefully, Keith ran his hand up along Lance’s arm like Lance had done to him before, and used his other hand to cup Lance’s cheek like Lupe had taught him, being instantly rewarded when Lance leaned into the touch so easily. He tilted Lance’s head slightly to meet Keith’s gaze and smiled slightly, hoping to come across as genuine as any Espinosa Keith had ever met.

 

“Lance…” Keith shook his head. “I promise you, you’re not dead. That was just a memory. A bad, bad memory. You’re alive.” His smile widened a fraction. “And I’ve come to take you home.”

 

Wide, blue eyes stared back at Keith as the words sank in and Lance learned the truth. Keith could see when the memories returned, could see realization dawn on Lance as easily as flipping a switch, and Keith smiled again.

 

“... No.”

 

Keith blinked. “What?”

 

Lance shook his head, his eyes still wide as he answered Keith again. “No.” 

 

He pulled away from Keith’s touch and shook his head, keeping eyes with Keith’s stunned form and shrugged. “Why would I want to leave heaven?”

 

Irritation bean to fester inside of Keith and he scowled at Lance’s reasoning. “I just told you, this isn’t heaven.”

 

“But it’s the next best thing.”

 

The honesty in Lance’s answer made Keith take a step back, completely shocked. Lance stood, unphased and waiting for a rebuttal. When none came, he turned and spread his arms out wide to the beach.

 

“Nothing can touch me here. There’s no war, nothing trying to kill us- my home is here, completely untouched.” Lance’s shoulders dropped along with his voice. “Varadero is gone, Keith. This won't be here when I wake up.”

 

This was unbelievable. Keith stared on, stunned, and quickly growing weary.

 

“But your family will. The team will…” Keith was almost hesitant to say it, but he did. “ _ I _ will.”

 

“No you won't. Not like this.” Lance chuckled humorlessly and smiled sadly to the ground. “I matter here. I’m not the butt of a joke. I’m just…  _ Lance _ . You and everyone else actually see me.” He lifted his gaze to meet Keith’s with so much sadness in his eyes that it broke Keith’s heart. “I won’t get that back home.”

 

Weariness evolved into despair. Keith watched as Lance’s light dimmed and he turned away from Keith to watch the waves, actually believing his rotten words. Keith shook his head, unbelieving.

 

“Why would you say that?” Keith asked.

 

Lance only watched the waves, his voice flat and lifeless. “Because it’s true.”

 

“No, it’s not.” Keith was growing angry now, especially when Lance laughed that terrible laugh again.

 

“Please,” Lance scoffed. “You won’t even admit-”

 

“I already did!”

 

Lance suddenly turned back to Keith, watching as he waved his arms out in anger. 

 

“Everyone knows, Lance!” Keith cried. “I admitted it in front of everyone; every-fucking-one!” He held his arms out wide to show himself off now, presenting his insanity. “Everyone knows that I’m crazy for you, that I want you back more than anything in the world, that I would do anything-  _ anything  _ to get you back, Lance!” 

 

Keith held up a finger to Lance, furious at himself that he was the cause of this same fight and determined to end it once and for all. “I love you, Lance Espinosa. I love you with all my heart. And I won’t let anyone stop me.” He shook his head. “Not again.” A smirk crawled its way over Keith’s face but the sincerity remained firm. “The universe can suck my dick.”

 

Lance choked on a laugh and slapped both of his hands over his mouth, eyes wide at Keith’s bold proclamation. Keith’s smirk grew at the sight of Lance literally holding in his laughter, and Lance could not love this man any more than he already did. He smiled so sweetly and so lovingly that his hands had to drop to hold his heart instead, admiring Keith with every ounce of love he could muster.

 

He was going to miss this.

 

The dream Keith and his dream family were real enough for the time being, up until his real ascent into heaven at least. Lance knew it would never amount to the real thing, but it was good enough to convince him from time to time. Having this last bit of time with the real thing was a blessing he didn’t deserve.

 

His eyes wandered from Keith to his beloved beach. His home. His heaven.

 

“I always wanted you to see this,” Lance whispered. “Now you have.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened as he realized that Lance had made his decision and the pit in his stomach dropped about ten feet. Lance was fully prepared to leave everything behind and live out the rest of his days in this imposter sanctuary. Fake home, fake family, fake friends, fake  _ Keith _ . Fake everything. Keith’s breathing came out choppy and harsh, sending his mind into a tailspin. No.  _ No. _ He wasn’t losing Lance too. 

 

Memories of Lance whirled through Keith’s mind. Every laugh, every fight, every kiss, every touch… Keith wanted it all back. Whatever he was or wasn’t allowed, he wanted it all back. The good times and the bad. The bad… 

 

Keith stopped suddenly and looked up to Lance, thinking back to Lance’s worst nightmare. “... What did you want to tell me?”

 

Lance blinked, his sad smile dropping. “What?”

 

“Back in your memory, when Kulai walked you through your thoughts,” Keith explained. “You said that there was something that you needed to tell me.”

 

“Oh…” Lance’s sad smile returned with a vengeance. “Just that I lo-”

 

“No!” Keith rushed up and slammed his hand over Lance’s mouth, denying his answer and glaring right back into Lance’s incredulous gaze. “You said there was something you wanted to tell me in your memory. It was your dying thought- it  _ must  _ have been important, so tell me.” Keith held firm over Lance’s mouth and pressed their foreheads together, dropping his voice low. “Tell me what was most important. Tell me what you thought was so important that you worried about it as you were dying. Tell me, Lance…” 

 

Keith closed his eyes, still holding Lance close enough that he was pretty much nuzzling into him at this point. Warm arms wrapped around Keith’s middle, trying to soothe him and bringing a soft, sad smile to Keith’s lips as he opened his eyes to the most loving look Lance had ever given him. Keith hoped and prayed that he returned the look tenfold because yes, Lance deserved to know just how much he was loved. So much more than he ever believed. Then, Keith took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more. 

 

“ _ Kulai _ !” 

 

And then, Keith was gone.

 

\---

 

It was dark again. Dark and floaty, just like before. Just like space, actually, only without the stars. Keith rested in the darkness, keeping his eyes closed for comfort’s sake more than anything else. This was familiar. This was nice.

 

The tugging on his ankles, however, was not.

 

Keith scowled at the insistent tugging at his heels. This was not how he wanted to nap. He ignored it as best he could, but then the tugging spread up along the back of his calves. That nagging feeling from his toes to his knees irritated him more and more, until his entire body dropped.

 

Fear shocked through Keith as the tugging changed to heaviness and spread out along his back and shoulders, dragging him through space and down into the atmosphere. The tugging finally reached his head, and suddenly, Keith had never felt so heavy in his life. He tried hard to lift his arms, to turn his head, but the pressure that covered his entire back half remained.

 

“Keith?”

 

He knew this voice. This was a good voice. This voice could help. Keith tried to speak, to call out to the voice but his throat was murky and thick, and all he could manage was a short groan.

 

“Easy, buddy, it’s alright. Just take it slow.”

 

Something latched onto Keith’s fingers, revealing that Keith had, in fact, been moving all along- if only sluggishly. He worked hard to open his eyes but the ease that had come from such a task before was no longer available, and Keith struggled to open his eyes. He finally managed to wedge one open and blink a few times, prying open the other eye to find Shiro smiling happily to him and holding his hand.

 

“Keith,” Shiro said, sounding relieved. “You okay?”

 

Keith blinked a few more times, chasing away the edges of fuzz from his vision and clearing his mind.

 

“Shiro?”

 

Shiro’s smile softened. “Hey, buddy.”

 

With a jolt, every memory of Keith’s walk through Lance’s mind flashed through Keith and he bolted forward, flailing on wobbling limbs that sent Shiro into a panic as Keith rushed to turn around and onto his elbows. Lance lay in bed just behind him, still asleep.

 

“No,” Keith scowled. “Come on.”

 

“Keith?” Shiro asked, but Keith ignored him, eyes only for Lance.

 

The paladin remain still and silent in bed, not moving save for the rise and fall of his chest, but even that wasn’t a comfort to Keith anymore. Several minutes passed like this with no sign of change.

 

“Come on!” Keith growled.

 

Nothing. Lance wasn’t responding. This… this couldn’t be happening.

 

“No,” Keith whimpered, dropping his head in shame. He failed. He wasn’t enough to bring Lance back. He wasn’t enough period. He failed. What would he tell Lupe?

 

A broken sob coughed out of Keith and Shiro was instantly by his side. Keith folded into Shiro’s touch, completely broken and unable to hear any of his comforting words. He had lost Lance. The universe had won. Again.

 

Keith cried.  _ Hard _ . Shiro had to hold him up to keep from collapsing into bed, but nothing seemed to matter at the moment. Keith clutched onto Shiro’s jacket for some form of solace, but Lance was gone. What comfort could Keith ever find again?

 

Shiro did all that he could for his friend. He held him so close that Shiro could feel every single tremble in his form, and suddenly, Shiro was hit with the reminder of just how small Keith could be. So he held Keith, whispered unheard words into Keith’s ear and promised that everything would be okay. Everything always turned out okay, even when it hurt for a while. Shiro had to believe that, after everything he had been through, and especially now. It was all he had to hold onto as he held Keith together.

 

Neither of them knew how long they sat there. They simply let time pass by as Keith fell apart in Shiro’s arms. The sound of his sobs would haunt Shiro’s nightmares for years to come, but he knew that they were desperately needed. Still, he would have been lying if he had admitted that he wasn’t a bit relieved when Keith’s shuddering body began to quiet down. It was because of that that they heard it.

 

It was small, gravely; a voice that had not seen use for some time when it had been so active before. Keith froze, almost afraid to lift his head from Shiro, but then the corner or Lance’s bed shifted. 

 

Keith didn’t spare a moment in tearing from Shiro and hurriedly crawling on all fours to the edge of his bed to peer at Lance from above, eyes and emotions still raw from his break down. Lance blinked up at Keith hovering above him and immediately locked onto the tear soaked face.

 

“Keith?” Even in his dazed state, Lance sounded alarmed.

 

“Lance-” Keith practically breathed out his name, a smile so wide and genuine that Lance’s fears turned to confusion. “You-” Keith swallowed back another sob. “You’re awake.”

 

A wayward tear fell from Keith’s chin and landed on Lance’s temple, making the man flinch but his eyes remained locked with Keith’s.

 

“Yeah, I am.” Lance raised a hand to try and wipe away some sadness from Keith’s face. “Are you-”

 

“Something you wanted to tell me?”

 

Lance blinked at the sudden interruption, but Keith kept his gaze firm. Then, just as before, the smirk that Keith had worn in Lance’s dreams reformed across Keith’s face. His real, live face.

 

“Yeah,” Lance said, his voice slightly dreamy before he smirked as well and dropped it a few octaves. “You're an asshole.”

 

A breathy laugh barked out of Keith and suddenly, he couldn’t resist any longer. So, without a care in the world, he dove down and wrapped his arms around Lance’s head, burying his face in Lance’s neck with a laugh. Lance held Keith back just as crudely, patting Keith’s shaking shoulders and groaning a wordless whine at how uncomfortable the hug was until Keith pulled back. Keith barked out another breathless laugh as he admired his boyfriend’s face, unable to remember a time when he had felt more happy, more relieved, more in love, so he dove down again- this time softer, much sweeter.

 

It was awkward, definitely awkward, what with Lance laying down upside down and all, but they managed to kiss proper anyhow. Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s cheeks and held on with a desperation that Lance wasn’t used to, and that combined with the compromising position that they held along with the roller coaster of emotions that he was nowhere prepared to deal with, he couldn’t help but laugh. Keith didn’t mind. He loved that laugh, and he could work around this, so he started his way down Lance’s neck. It was here that Shiro reminded Keith of his existence.

 

“ _ Ahem _ .”

 

_ “Holy shi-Shiro?!” _

 

Lance practically jumped out of his skin, but Keith was undeterred in his quest to touch every inch of caramel skin.

 

“Go away,” Keith muttered, not even bothering to look. “Goodbye.”

 

Shiro cocked a brow. “Don’t I get to say hello first?”

 

“I’ve been waiting too long to do this and I’m not stopping.”

 

Shiro held his hands up in surrender and stood from his chair, not in any particular mood to watch his younger brother and team mate work through what was hopefully only a make-out session. “Fine, fine.” 

 

Keith was more than happy to go through with his threat, but something nagged at the back of his mind, and when he turned to look, he found that the room was otherwise empty. “Wait, where’s Kulai?”

 

The question stopped Shiro and he frowned to the floor, rubbing a hand over the back of his hair. “She said that she knew the truth and left.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was, she seemed to know what went down after you called out to her.”

 

Suddenly, Keith’s relief turned sour as he realized what she must have learned from his and Lance’s encounter. Kulai had learned of her brother’s true nature, and though he betrayed everyone around him, it seemed that he had betrayed Kulai more than any one of them combined. Keith frowned to the floor, but the sight of his patched up hand caught his eye. There had been an IV there before, but now there was only a band aid.

 

“How long have we been out?” Keith asked.

 

Shiro shrugged. “About a day and a half. Nurse took out your IV when Kulai left this morning, and then the others went to go inform the families-”

 

“Wait, did you say a day and a half?” Lance interrupted, aghast.

 

“Oh no, you don’t get to be surprised,” Keith warned. “You’ve been out  _ much  _ longer than I have. I had to come get you, remember?”

 

Lance shook his head, completely baffled. “It was only a few hours, how-” He gasped suddenly. “Ay, por dios, my  _ mom _ !”

 

“And grandmother, and siblings, and team members-” Keith stopped his droning when Shiro gave him the ‘dad-look.’ So Keith stood up to try and clamber into bed with Lance, giving Shiro another heart attack.

 

“What are you- no, don’t!”

 

“Then help me get over there.”

 

If Shiro’s hair weren’t already grey, Keith would surely be the cause of more growing in. By the time Shiro had finally settled Keith into bed with Lance, he was a complete mess of nerves and looked like a bird with his feathers ruffled.

 

“Worse. Than. Slav,” Shiro bit, but Keith was too content to care at the moment. He shook his head at his brother substitute and headed out of the room to inform the others, but stopped long enough to smile at Lance. “It’s good to have you back, Lance.”

 

Lance smiled weakly, almost timid. “Yeah.”

 

If Shiro noticed Lance’s shift in behavior, he said nothing of it. Keith, however, was staring Lance down up until Shiro finally left the room.

 

“What is it?” Keith asked.

 

“Nothing, I just-” Lance hummed as he shook his head, eyes downcast but a small smile to his lips. He took a moment to himself before turning his lashes up to Keith. “... You really did tell them.”

 

“Yeah, I told you, everybody knows.” Keith blinked at him, a little confused until he actually considered Lance’s comment. “Well, okay, maybe not  _ everybody _ . I haven’t told the rest of your family, but your mom and Veronica knows. The team does too.”

 

It was small, miniscule at best as Lance withheld a squeak and tilted his head into Keith’s space, biting on his lower lip to keep a smile from overtaking him. He nuzzled his nose into Keith’s temple, still holding back a smile as he tried to say the words that he wanted, but failed at both.

 

Keith allowed the extra affection- hell, he welcomed it, and gave back as much as he could. Holding Lance’s hand, tilting into Lance’s nuzzling, leaning into Lance’s space to hold his other hand over Lance’s heartbeat; he just couldn’t get enough of Lance. He couldn’t believe it, couldn’t comprehend the depths of how important the choice had been, and yet, he could, because Lance had been in a literal paradise and he still chose to leave it. Keith squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that Lance wouldn’t notice his grimace.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Of course Lance would notice. Keith opened his eyes to look into Lance’s blue ones, still in disbelief.

 

“You’re here,” Keith whispered. “Why did you come back?”

 

Lance frowned, scoffing a little. “I thought you wanted me to?”

 

“I did- I do, of course I do.” Keith pulled the hand he had on Lance’s chest away to hold his own face in his hands, heaving out a frustrated sigh at the inability to convey what he meant on his first attempt. After a moment, he looked back up to meet Lance’s gaze and tried again. “Lance… You gave up heaven to come back to this shit hole. For a minute, I really thought you weren’t coming back at all… And I honestly wouldn’t have blamed you if you did.” Keith’s voice dropped to a whisper. “So why?”

 

The vulnerability that practically radiated off of Keith sent Lance’s heart aflutter, and he smiled lovingly to his boyfriend, soaking in the sight for as long as he could before he spoke again.

 

“I love you,” Lance whispered under his breath, but this only made Keith’s expression become guilty.

 

“I-” Keith shook his head. “Do not tell me that you came back just because I teased you into telling me your dying thoughts.”

 

“Of course not,” Lance laughed, so beautifully bright before he settled down again and looked to Keith honestly. “But it played a big part in my decision.”

 

“... Why?” Keith blinked, not wanting to know the answer but knowing that he needed to. “You had everything.”

 

Lance’s smile deepened and slowly, oh, so slowly, he leaned into Keith’s space to draw him in and used his fingers to tilt Keith’s chin up.

 

“No I didn’t,” Lance murmured. “I didn’t have my family. I didn’t have my team.” His eyes softened as they locked on with Keith’s. “I didn’t have you.”

 

Keith swallowed hard, eyes wide and body frozen.

 

“I had a fantasy,” Lance explained. “I had everything I could have ever wanted, but it would never be real. I didn’t give anything up. But you? You…” Lance paused, eyes to the side as he chose his next words carefully. “Love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them not to.” His eyes came back up to meet with Keith’s. “You gave up everything.” 

 

Confusion clouded Keith’s features. “‘Everything?’”

 

Lance nodded, still soft and loving. “Telling the others… You honest to God thought that it would ruin you, but you did it anyway.”

 

“Only because I-” Keith stopped, choking back another wave of emotion that had snuck up on him.

 

“Go on, tell me,” Lance prodded. “What made you change your mind?”

 

A self-deprecating laugh forced its way out of Keith’s chest in a single huff and he closed his eyes to still his emotions even further. He gave in to gravity and let his head drop to the mattress nearest to Lance’s shoulder and simmered on his answer, not knowing if it would be good enough for Lance’s standards or not.

 

“I finally realized how stupid I was being,” Keith finally admitted. “Even when I couldn't say it out loud, the universe still tried to take you away from me. I might as well admit it and enjoy what I've got while I've got it.” He turned his eyes up to Lance’s. “... As long as you'll have me.”

 

Lance’s eyes widened at the simple request, small and quiet as the rest of the conversation, but weighing much more than any of the other sentiments that they had shared so far. 

 

“Is that a proposal?” Lance asked, making Keith chuckle.

 

“Baby steps, Lance,” Keith grinned, genuine. “I just told the world I love you. Let me catch my breath first.”

 

Lance leaned in to touch foreheads with Keith, smiling all the way up to his eyes. “That's not a no.”

 

Keith’s grin widened. “Let’s make it through at least one of your mother’s Sunday dinners first.”

 

“And an awkward double-date with my brother?” Lance pressed, still smiling like a mad man.

 

“Only if we do it with Shiro too,” Keith agreed. “It’s our solemn duty to make terrible impressions for him once he finds someone.”

 

“I am all for this,” Lance giggled, then reached over to hold Keith close. He was never letting go again.

 

\---

 

The team all came around once they had gotten word of Lance's revival. They had pretty much finished informing the families of the victims about the case by that point and we're all headed back to the Garrison when Shiro called them in. Tears were shed, hugs were shared and that was only the first few seconds of Hunk in the room. Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to stay long due to their long list of duties to finish but more important than that, they knew that Lance's family was on the way.

 

It hadn’t even been an hour before Lance’s door burst open with the first Espinosa. Lance jumped when his niece, Nadia, came running into the room, with her brother Sylvio running right behind her. The rest of the family came in after them, overjoyed to see Lance back in good health and chastising him for scaring the family again.

 

By some form of luck, Keith had slipped off to the bathroom not even five minutes before the Espinosas had arrived, and when he stepped out of the restroom to see the hospital room stuffed full of people, he froze, assessed, then turned to leave entirely. Lance’s heart broke.

 

“Keith?”

 

The retreating man stopped again and half-turned to Lance, a strangely curious look to his wide-eyed face. Lance opened his mouth to speak but found himself stuck, seeing Keith run away to hide again and feeling a pit grow in his stomach. He cleared his throat and tried again, finding purchase this time.

 

“You’re leaving?” Lance asked.

 

Keith’s wide eyes scanned the crowd of people in the room before he slowly nodded to Lance, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

“Your family’s here,” Keith said simply. He would have left it there, but there must have been something in Lance’s expression that changed his mind, because suddenly, Keith’s eyes widened in a panic for a split second before he regained his senses and he turned fully to face Lance. “I thought you would want the alone time… but I can stay?”

 

For a moment, it looked as though Keith were scared of the people, of Lance’s family, but then Lance looked deeper. The fear in Keith’s eyes was nothing of the sort, rather, he was afraid of doing the wrong thing. Of course there was the usual concerns of embarrassing himself in front of Lance’s family or being in a room full of new people, but Lance could feel it in his gut now that Keith was more worried about hurting Lance than any of his old fears. The thought brought a smile to Lance’s lips.

 

“Please?” Lance asked quietly.

 

Without a word, Keith nodded and padded his way around to stand by the other side of Lance’s bed, brightening the smile over Lance’s face when Keith settled himself squarely beside Lance’s shoulder. Crossing his arms, Keith took it upon himself to lean heavily against the side of Lance’s bed as he stood beside it, allowing Nadia and Sylvio to stay perched in their uncle’s lap, but staying close enough to Lance’s side that he didn’t feel abandoned. 

 

“Uncle Lance, are you feeling okay? Your face is pink.” Sylvio sat up on his knees to hold a hand to Lance’s forehead. “You’re not getting sick again, are you?”

 

“Should I go get a nurse?” his sister Rachel asked, looking slightly panicked and made it just about halfway out the door when Lance waved his hands out.

 

“No! No, no, I’m fine,” Lance assured, but Keith was snickering- actually  _ snickering _ at Lance’s troubles behind him. Lance flung a hand back to smack Keith on the arm, but that only served to make Keith laugh even more.

 

“You sure, uncle Lance?” Keith asked, smirk still glued to his face. “You’re getting darker.”

 

“Traitor,” Lance grumbled, holding his cheeks to keep Sylvio’s hands from touching him again. “I’m fine, I promise, buddy.”

 

The family seemed to catch on by this point, and it didn’t hurt that Lupe and Veronica were already giggling at Lance’s expense, but the children were unconvinced.

 

“Maybe we should get a nurse anyways,” Nadia suggested, earning a vigorous nod from her brother. “You know. Just in case.”

 

“Guys, I’m fine,” Lance said. “I’m not sick, I’m just blushing.”

 

That  _ really  _ got the kids’ attention.

 

“What for?”

 

“Why are you blushing?”

 

Keith was enjoying this far too much. “Yeah,  _ Lance _ , why are you blushing?” 

 

Lance whipped around to snark at him for it. “Oh, like you don’t know.”

 

Keith shrugged but held a finger out to point at Lance’s family. “ _ They _ don’t.”

 

The retort that Lance hadn’t even prepared for died on his lips. Lance’s eyes widened as he realized that Keith was right, and that he was giving Lance the chance to do what he had always wanted. The cocked brow that Keith gave him only served to widen Lance’s smile and deepen his blush.

 

For a moment, the two could only stare at each other in this silent conversation before Lance finally caved and blushed to his lap, smiling like a fool. 

 

“Um…” He ticked his head, finding it difficult to find words at the moment. He was giddy, but scared all at once. Lupe seemed to notice the tension and took hold of Lance’s hand, smiling encouragingly to him when Lance looked to her.

 

“Go on, my sun,” she whispered. “Shine.”

 

That was all the push he needed. Lance smiled wider and took the leap that he had been dreaming of for months now.

 

“I’m blushing…” Lance licked his lip, suddenly apprehensive but too excited to stop. “Because my boyfriend is here with me.” Lance looked up and smiled even softer when he noticed Keith smiled right back at him in return, then turned back to his family. “Everyone, I’m sure you’ve all seen Keith around at least.”

 

Keith nodded to the rest of the family, actually meeting their eyes as each person assessed this new man in their lives. Lance couldn’t have been more proud.

 

There was the usual confusion that glossed over each individual, but one look at Lance told the Espinosas that their beloved family member was serious- and absolutely smitten. One look at Keith could tell them the same, exact thing. They didn’t need to look hard to find the love there, so one by one, the Espinosas began to smile. That is, except for the kids.

 

“I thought you liked girls?” Sylvio asked, confused.

 

Lance nodded to him, letting go of Lupe’s hand to give his full attention to his niece and nephew. “I do like girls,” he said. “And I found out a little while ago that I like boys too. But, out of all of them, I like Keith most of all.” Lance suddenly smirked. “Besides, Keith is pretty enough to be a girl, don't you think?”

 

The children giggled with their uncle at Keith's expense, but Keith could only stare.

 

“Aren't you the one with a nightly ‘beautification process?’” Keith asked blandly.

 

Nadia’s eyes widened. "Uncle Lance, you still  _ do  _ that?”

 

“Of course I do!” Lance cried, outraged at the abundant incredulousness. “Skin care is important!”

 

The children’s mother, Lisa, pursed her lips and cocked a brow in thought, eyeing Lance before speaking. “Is that where all my anti-wrinkle cream went?”

 

Lance jolted ramrod straight with a look of pure horror on his face. “ _ Stop using words! _ ”

 

The whole family, Keith included, laughed at Lance’s embarrassment. It was a lovely sound, no longer suffering silence or dreaded sorrow, but pure, unadulterated happiness. A sound that lifted spirits and unburdened the soul. Keith felt as though he weighed nothing with this sound; as though he couldn’t be happier if he tried. 

 

The love that filled the room was infectious, and the instant connection and acceptance that he found with the Espinosas was something so refreshing, it was like a baptism in social graces. Nothing could beat this feeling, being welcomed by family, belonging by his beloved’s side, happy and doubtless that only more good things would come their way.

 

Keith smiled at the sight before him until Lupe pulled his attention away with a tug to his hand. She smiled to him just as lovingly as she had to Lance.

 

“Welcome to the family, sweetheart,” Lupe whispered.

 

Emotion swelled within Keith at those words and when he looked to Lance, the feeling doubled at the sight of Lance's dazzling smile. That was it. Keith was done for. The feeling that burned in Keith's chest could only be described with one word as he smiled back to the others.

 

_ Home _ . 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp. That's it. I told you it would have a happy ending. :]
> 
> Debating on adding more for a series later as a sort of epilogue because of Lance. One, he's still in a cast and two, he sort of faced his insecurities but not entirely? I feel like he would need to work on them more but what I was hoping for in this final chapter was showing that Lance trusted Kieth as much as Kieth trusted Lance so. I don't know. I can't read your minds like you can read my stories so you'll have to tell me.
> 
> I had so many things I wanted to say about this fic but I'm drawing a blank so I guess all I can do is answer any questions you guys have. Come find me in my inbox. I love hearing from you guys.

**Author's Note:**

> Plot twist? Meh, maybe. You tell me :)
> 
>  
> 
> Seriously, tell me. I love hearing your theories. They sustain me. >]


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